So What Exactly Is 'Blood Quantum'?

[DOS_patos]

If you're Native American, there's a good chance that you've thought a lot about blood quantum — a highly controversial measurement of the amount of "Indian blood" you have. It can affect your identity, your relationships and whether or not you — or your children — may become a citizen of your tribe.

Blood quantum was initially a system that the federal government placed onto tribes in an effort to limit their citizenship. Many Native nations, including the Navajo Nation and the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, still use it as part of their citizenship requirements.


CODE SWITCH
Love And Blood Quantum: Buy In Or Die Out?
And how tribes use blood quantum varies from tribe to tribe. The Navajo Nation requires a minimum of 25 percent "Navajo blood," and Turtle Mountain requires a minimum of 25 percent of any Indian blood, as long as its in combination with some Turtle Mountain.

Blood quantum minimums really restrict who can be a citizen of a tribe. If you've got 25 percent of Navajo blood — according to that tribe's blood quantum standards — and you have children with someone who has a lower blood quantum, those kids won't be able to enroll.

So why keep a system that's decreasing your tribe's rolls and could lead to its demise?

"I use the term 'Colonial Catch 22' to say that there is no clear answer, and that one way or another, people are hurt," says Elizabeth Rule. She's a doctoral candidate at Brown University who specializes in Native American studies, and also a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation.

"The systems are so complicated," she explains, "but it's all part of tribes deciding on their own terms, in their own ways, utilizing their own sovereignty [to decide] what approach is best for them."

this week's episode, we thought a primer of what, exactly, this system is and how it works — or doesn't — might be useful. Here's my interview with Elizabeth Rule, edited and condensed for clarity.

First of all, what's blood quantum?

Blood quantum simply is the amount of "Indian blood" that an individual possesses. The federal government, and specifically the Department of the Interior, issues what is called a "Certified Degree of Indian Blood," and that is a card similar to an ID card. So the way that blood quantum is calculated is by using tribal documents, and usually it's a tribal official or a government official that calculates it.

But really it's a mathematical equation. So the quantum is a fraction of blood that is derived going back to the original enrollees of a tribe who were counted on Census rolls, and then their blood quantum was documented, and usually those original enrollees had a full blood quantum. Typically.

How did people know that those original enrollees had "full blood quantum"?

Well, they didn't. And that's that's one of the major problems with blood quantum today is that a lot of times, the people taking the rolls were federal government officials who were unfamiliar with Native ways of establishing and defining their own communities.

And so, for example, these officials would mark someone potentially as "full blood" when potentially that person was not. And that assumption was based on their appearance, on their level of cultural involvement with their community.

But a great example for how to understand this problem in real life is that there is a history of freedmen who are black individuals who were living as fully incorporated members of Indian tribes. And when these original roles were taken, oftentimes these freedmen were not included, even though those individuals may be of mixed heritage: black and Indian. Because of their black appearance, they were listed on a separate roll. And today, the ramification is that they do not have that original enrollee [in their past]. They do not have enough blood quantum, and therefore oftentimes cannot be extended tribal membership.

Can you talk to me about how the concept of blood quantum came to be used for Native tribes?

Certainly, American Indians have been racialized. But our primary identity continues to be a political one. Blood quantum really emerges as a way to trace race between generations of Native people starting at the turn of the 20th century. And again, I think it's helpful to understand the way that blood quantum works through another example that people may be more familiar with — and that's the "one drop rule."

Canada, where a First Nation has decided to open enrollment to people who have no Indian ancestry at all. Meaning that those individuals don't meet the federal Canadian requirements of being a "status Indian," and they also don't have that blood quantum or descendancy from an original enrollee. It's an extremely progressive and interesting move, and they're really changing the game.

 

[DOS_patos]

Blood quantum emerged as a way to measure "Indian-ness" through a construct of race. So that over time, Indians would literally breed themselves out and rid the federal government of their legal duties to uphold treaty obligations

 

[DOS_patos]

@konceptjones

 

[DOS_patos]

One of the most misunderstood aspect of Native life is Blood Quantum and one of the most common questions is:

“What is Blood Quantum” ?

A myriad of answers will cascade forth depending on the person and their understanding of what you are asking. For in some communities a person could be counted as Full Blood but not meet the minimum Quantum to enroll in a particular tribe! This mainly because the person is of multiple tribes, but you only count the tribe you are enrolling with. And yet Nations, Tribes and Bands continue to use Blood Quantum as a basis for enrollment and citizenship with a particular tribe. What can keep a Full Blood from being enrolled in one tribe, but that same person could meet the minimum of as little as 1/16th Degree? How in the world could a person with 1/2000 degree of Indian Blood receive the same benefits as a 4/4 Degree (Full Blood)? I will attempt to fully answer these question and perhaps give an insight into this very complex issue. But first a History lesson:

Blood Quantum in the modern sense was first “Officially” used by the BIA after passage of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, better known as the Indian Welfare Act. An awakened interest in the Affairs of Native populations had come to the forefront due to several events. During WW1 Native Troops had played significant roles in theater operations including as Code Talkers, combat troops and gave distinguished service in the US Military. In 1924 Congress authorized the Merriam Survey that spotlighted conditions and state of native populations on the reservations and in Oklahoma. The shocking conditions under the regimen established by the Dawes General Allotment Act (1887), as detailed in the Merriam report of 1928, spurred demands for reform. Many of the Merriam report’s recommendations for reform were incorporated in the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. The act curtailed the future allotment of tribal communal lands to individuals and provided for the return of surplus lands to the tribes rather than to homesteaders. It also encouraged written constitutions and charters giving Natives the power to manage their internal affairs. Finally, funds were authorized for the establishment of a revolving credit program for tribal land purchases, for educational assistance, and for aiding tribal organization. At first only 160 of 550 tribes or villages adopted written constitutions under the act’s provisions, in addition applied for and received monies from the revolving credit fund. This allowed many tribes to improved their economic position. With the funds for purchase of land, millions of additional acres were added to the reservations. Greatly improved staffs and services were provided in health and education, with more than half of all Indian children in public school by 1950. The act awakened a wider interest in civic affairs, and Indians began asking for the franchise, which they had been technically granted in 1924. The Reorganization Act remains the basis of federal legislation concerning Indian affairs. The act’s basic aims were reinforced in the 1960s and ’70s by the further transfer of administrative responsibility for reservation services to the Indians themselves, who continued to depend on the federal government to finance those services. 2

Up to 1934 a person was considered an Indian if they were recognized by their community and lived as an Indian. This definition was fairly straightforward but a more definitive method was needed for those that lived or would live farther from there communities as the 1950's would show when the Urban Indian Relocation Program was rolled out by the BIA. “The Indian Relocation Act of 1956 (also known as Public Law 959 or the Adult Vocational Training Program) was a United States law intended to encourage Native Americans in the United States to leave Indian reservations, acquire vocational skills, and assimilate into the general population. Part of the Indian termination policy of that era, it played a significant role in increasing the population of urban Indians in succeeding decades. At a time when the U.S. government was decreasing subsidies to Indians living on reservations, the Relocation Act offered to pay moving expenses and provide some vocational training for those who were willing to move from the reservations to certain government-designated cities” 3.

Because of the program and others that were put together in the 1960's a method of determining who was Native and who was not had to be devised. Originally the BIA administered this program of CDIB and gradually as more tribes took over there own Self Determination the tribal office now administers for its own tribe except for the very small tribes.

Here is an example of a BIA Application:

Expiration Date: July 31, 2011

BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS
CERTIFICATE OF DEGREE OF INDIAN OR ALASKA NATIVE BLOOD INSTRUCTIONS
All portions of the Request for Certificate of Degree of Indian or Alaska Native Blood (CDIB) must be completed. You must show your relationship to an individual Indian listed on an Indian census
roll, tribal base roll, Indian judgment fund distribution roll (Roll) that includes Indian blood degrees, or other document prepared and approved by the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary), or
his/her authorized representative.

• Your degree of Indian blood is computed from ancestors of Indian blood who were listed on a Roll or other document acceptable to the Secretary, or his/her authorized representative.

• You must give the maiden names of all women listed on the Request for CDIB, unless they were enrolled by their married names.

• A certified copy of a birth certificate or other official documentation is required to establish your relationship to a parent(s) listed on Roll or other document acceptable to the Secretary.

 

[DOS_patos]

• If your parent is not listed on a Roll or other document acceptable to the Secretary, a certified copy of your parent’s birth or death certificate, or other official documentation is required to
establish your parent’s relationship to someone listed on such Roll. If your grandparent(s) were not listed on such Roll, a certified copy of the birth or death certificate or other official
documentation for each grandparent who was the child of an enrolled member of a federally recognized Indian tribe is required.

• Certified copies of birth certificates, delayed birth certificates, and death certificates may be obtained from the State Department of Health or Bureau of Vital Statistics in the State where the
person was born or died, or from a tribal office of Vital Statistic. The Indian tribe must have a duly adopted tribal ordinance concerning the issuance of such documents.

• In cases of adoption, the degree of Indian blood of the natural (birth) parent must be proven.

• Your request and supporting documents should be sent to the Agency from whom you receive services.

• Incomplete requests will be returned with a request for further information. No action will be taken until the request is complete.

Several Points:

1) IT DEPENDS… Up to this point in the article I have only written in broadest aspect of this very complex subject, for now we will start drilling down to the heart of the article and what most people who are not enrolled are desiring and that is: NDN Card! If I heard this once I have heard it a thousand times and that is “I cant be enrolled because I don't have enough Indian Blood”. I point my lips to the beginning of this paragraph! IT DEPENDS! If you are attempting to register with the some odd 19 tribes that DONT use a Minimum Blood Quantum then your in luck for all you have to prove is you are a DIRECT DESCENDANT of somebody that was on the ORGINAL ROLL of that tribe. All tribes use a Membership Roll that they have determined best represents that Tribe in the past.

2) You Can't change the past to fit today's desires… What I mean to say your ancestors determined what you will be today! AND I MEAN all of them, If the Parents are Native so are the Children and the brothers and sisters of the parents and Uncles and Aunts, Cousins,Grandparents ect. If you are searching far in the past it will do no good unless you can show an unbroken line to them. MOST Base Rolls were done between 1900-1924 and some as late as 1947 so depending on your age, your grandparents or great grandparent would possibly be listed on a Base Roll. Do not rely on family Lore it will not help in your search it is far easier to search using a hired Expert they are not that expensive and you can rely on the results, more importantly you can actually use the results to apply. Another HUGE point NOT ONE of the 566 Tribes will CHARGE you for ENROLLEMENT!

3) There are 566 Federally Recognized tribes in the United States. I will not mention Canada for they have a far different method to determine who is considered “1st Nation”As you may noticed I underlined that phrase Federally Recognized Tribes, this means that the US Government has acknowledged that they have held a Government to Government relationship for more than 100 years and other criteria that they have determined. (that is another article so for the sake of this one we will use the these terms). This means that STATE Recognized tribes will not get you the same services as a Federal Tribe will. States have there own reasons to recognize groups mostly to do with attracting TOURIST dollars and has nothing to do with an actual Native populations or providing services for them.

4) As time has passed, especially in the 1980's the Federally government has passed more and more powers to Tribal Governments for “Self Determination”. What this means is the TRIBE determines who is a Citizen. As a Citizen you are granted rights to vote, hold office and Hold Land in Trust (Oklahoma) or residence on the Reservation of your enrollment and of course access to Health Care.

5) Criteria for Citizenship is varied as the stars are in the sky, some tribes use no minimum blood criteria but the notion that a Tribal Citizen is a DIRECT DESCENDANT of an Original Enrolled Member, others use a minimum quantum that is set usually by the tribal council and subject to change as the need arises. This criteria is perhaps the most confusing of all as I have mentioned there are 566 tribes all have a different way to recognize a person as a citizen that works for that tribe. This means it is best to contact that tribe for there enrollment criteria most have a web prescience and the forms are usually found online.

 

[DOS_patos]

Some Examples of Tribal Minimums as of 2014

Tribes that hold their Blood Quantum at 1/2
Kialegee Tribal Town
Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida
Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, Mississippi
St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin
White Mountain Apache Tribe, of Arizona
Yomba Shoshone Tribe, of Nevada

Tribes requiring 1/4 degree blood quantum
Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians, of Oklahoma
Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, of Oklahoma
Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, of Washington
Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin
Hopi Tribe of Arizona
Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma
Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma
Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation, Arizona
Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes, of Montana
Navajo Nation, Arizona, Utah and New Mexico
Oneida Tribe of Indians, of Wisconsin
Pascua Yaqui Tribe, of Arizona
Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, of Kansas
Shoshone Tribe of the Wind River Reservation, of Wyoming
Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, North and South Dakota
United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians, of Oklahoma
Utu Gwaitu Paiute Tribe, of California
Yavapai-Prescott Tribe, of Arizona
Blackfeet Tribe, of Montana

Tribes requiring 1/8 degree blood quantum
Apache Tribe of Oklahoma
Comanche Nation, of Oklahoma
Delaware Nation, of Oklahoma
Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Reservation, of Oregon
Fort Sill Apache Tribe of Oklahoma
Hooopa Valley Tribe of California
Karuk Tribe of California
Muckleshoot Indian Tribe of the Muckleshoot Reservation, of Washington
Northwestern Band of Shoshoni Nation of Utah “Washakie”
Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Indians, of Oklahoma
Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma
Ponca Nation, of Oklahoma
Sac and Fox Nation, of Oklahoma
Sac & Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska
Squaxin Island Tribe of the Squaxin Island Reservation, of Washington
Suquamish Indian Tribe of the Port Madison Reservation, of Washington
Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation
Upper Skagit Indian Tribe of Washington
Wichita and Affiliated Tribes (Wichita, Keechi, Waco and Tawakonie)

Tribes requiring 1/16 degree blood quantum
Caddo Nation
Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon
Fort Independence Indian Community of Paiute Indians of the Fort Independence Reservation, of California
Fort Sill Apache Tribe
Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma
Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, of North Carolina
Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians

Tribes requiring 1/32 degree blood quantum for membership
Kaw Nation

Tribes determining membership by lineal descent,
Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town
Cherokee Nation
Chickasaw Nation
Choctaw Nation
Citizen Potawatomi Nation
Delaware Tribe of Indians
Eastern Shawnee Tribe
Mashantucket Pequot Tribe of Connecticut
Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe of Massachusetts
Miami Tribe of Oklahoma
Modoc Tribe
Muscogee Creek Nation
Osage Nation
Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma
Peoria Tribe of Indians
Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma
Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Michigan
Seminole Nation
Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma
Shawnee Tribe
Thlopthlocco Tribal Town
Tonkawa Tribe
Wyandotte Nation

 

[DOS_patos]

so all that casino shit will come to an end soon.

funny how white people worked the system.

but all these threads im going somewhere with

 

[Playmaker88]

Without Dna test you woulnt know what your make up entailed..

And not only did white people.. decimate/relegate natives to reservations they in fact appropriated for financial gain..

 

[DOS_patos]

Without Dna test you woulnt know what your make up entailed..

And not only did white people.. decimate/relegate natives to reservations they in fact appropriated for financial gain..

i never understood card carrying member of tribes that white people were quick to bring up.

even when paying the natives back ...white people wiggled their way in to benefit.

damn cacs got no morals.

 

[Lou Cypher]

I'm an 8th native American and that was enough to get me a CIB with the crow tribe. My grandma is crow/irish. My mom's biological father is sioux/iraqois/irish. My family isn't super cultural but a lot of the older fam lives on a ranch the family has in montana. So they are real close to the reservation.

As far as other tribes, a lot of them have different requirements. You can be adopted into some with 0 blood, or tribes like Cherokee will accept people with as low as 1/32 of blood.

I work at a hospital that Is funded mostly by Indian health services. I don't know the details too well, but blood quantum is one of the things listed in people's charts. An 8th is usually the lowest I'll see for most tribes besides cherokee. We see all alaska natives and native americans. There are some instances where we see non native blood folks too

 

[DOS_patos]

I'm an 8th native American and that was enough to get me a CIB with the crow tribe. My grandma is crow/irish. My mom's biological father is sioux/iraqois/irish. My family isn't super cultural but a lot of the older fam lives on a ranch the family has in montana. So they are real close to the reservation.

As far as other tribes, a lot of them have different requirements. You can be adopted into some with 0 blood, or tribes like Cherokee will accept people with as low as 1/32 of blood.

I work at a hospital that Is funded mostly by Indian health services. I don't know the details too well, but blood quantum is one of the things listed in people's charts. An 8th is usually the lowest I'll see for most tribes besides cherokee. We see all alaska natives and native americans. There are some instances where we see non native blood folks too

crow huh?
my grandfather is crow/blackfoot

 

[Lou Cypher]

Nice, yeah unfortunately being native american, the deals were made with the government hundreds of years ago and they got fucked over. The native Alaskan had their deals done when the state was bought in the 50s. Once they found oil up here it made a lot of the Alaskan tribes rich and they get a nice chunk of the oil money. A lot of enrolled members for those tribes here can live in their rural villages and collect quarterly checks that can be upwards to 10 grand depending how many shares they own. A lot of them don't have to work at all, but a lot come to anchorage and try surviving off those checks but it ain't enough and they don't have any experience in much so they become homeless and alcoholic. Not all of them, but a lot of them.

 

[konceptjones]

I'm proud of my heritage as is everyone else in my family. Aside from my Grandmother and Aunt, I'm the only other family member to step foot on the reservation. When I was living in Phoenix I made the trip to Yuma/Winterhaven at least twice a year. Never got to meet my family out there on the res, but I met a lot of people in the Tribal Government that I dealt with on a regular basis.

The way I see it, the government may have set it up to eliminate Natives, but with some tribes accepting down to 1/32nd with proof their mission hasn't succeeded and those bloodlines are still there, even if greatly diluted. Every obstacle the government has thrown our way, our people learned to adapt and to make it work. Russell Means spoke on it back in the late 80's and I posted that video up on the IC, but I'll post it again for anyone that hasn't seen it:

 

[Allah_U_Akbar]

I'm an 8th native American and that was enough to get me a CIB with the crow tribe. My grandma is crow/irish. My mom's biological father is sioux/iraqois/irish. My family isn't super cultural but a lot of the older fam lives on a ranch the family has in montana. So they are real close to the reservation.

As far as other tribes, a lot of them have different requirements. You can be adopted into some with 0 blood, or tribes like Cherokee will accept people with as low as 1/32 of blood.

I work at a hospital that Is funded mostly by Indian health services. I don't know the details too well, but blood quantum is one of the things listed in people's charts. An 8th is usually the lowest I'll see for most tribes besides cherokee. We see all alaska natives and native americans. There are some instances where we see non native blood folks too

Soooooo....


In other words...

You're a white dude.


Cool.


Aint nothin' wrong with that

 

[Lou Cypher]

Yeah, thats exactly what i was trying to say with all that.