This guide is based on our event content; we are grateful to our presenters for sharing their insight with us. Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation Chad Smith denied accusations of racism in the exclusion of Freedmen, instead arguing that later Congressional legislation like the Five Tribes Act of 1906 abrogated Freedmen rights to citizenship. Follow us so you don't miss a thing! The framework through which federal benefits are allocated to Indigenous communities is inherently paternalistic, which helps contextualize the erasive history of blood quantum. It had never worked that way for me. Few friends believe me when I say that I dont have an interest in having babies or finding a sexual partner. If each tribe is able to determine their own their own enrollment requirements, are there any tribes out there that you've heard of that are deciding to forego lineal descent and blood quantum and deciding to use another completely different method? According to the Court, the adoption of the blood quantum rule was not racially discriminatory. Taking blood quantum this seriously made me laugh, as did all the imaginary babies. When pressed to identify a crush, I often pick a random guy instead of being honest about any sexual attractions I might have. Blood quantum is the most common requirement used to determine membership among nations. Others required reservation residency, ownership of land kept in a government trust, or tribal citizenship for federal recognition. In 1893, the Dawes Commission was created to enforce the provisions of the act for the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogees (Creeks), and Seminole tribes. Safe space my ass, if you silence native voices. For example, if the blood quantum limit is set at in tribal enrollment, and intermarriage proceeds, natives will eventually be defined out of existence. In Cherokee origin stories like the legend of Corn Mother Selu, ceremonial adoption practices were seen as sacred acts of creating new blood. Blood quantum is a complicated, controversial, and personal topic that has major implications for citizenship and belonging in Indian Country. Those who are against continued use of blood quantum often mention survival as a primary reason for their viewpoint. To eradicate American Indigenous peoples would be to really erase Americas history. Many Native nations currently use blood quantum to determine who can and cannot become a citizen. And how tribes use blood quantum varies from tribe to tribe. Watch our event recording to learn more. Sign up for our newsletter to receive news and upcoming event updates. Blood quantum was initially a system that the federal government placed onto tribes in an effort to limit their citizenship. Kids enrolled. Today, about 70% of the federally recognized Native nations that share geography with the United States use blood quantum as a metric for citizenship. Before the arrival of Europeans, many Indigenous tribes used lineal descent and defined Native identity through social-cultural-territorial definitions. The BIA issues Native people a Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood (CDIB) that identifies an individuals blood quantum and Native nation affiliation. Today, the BIA primarily uses the Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood (CDIB) to determine enrollment in tribes and eligibility for federal social services. On these rolls, the Dawes Commission assumed three racial categories: freedmen, intermarried Whites, and Indians by blood. Ones racial classification dictated the size and location of their allotment: Full-blood Natives received small parcels of land while mixed-blood Natives received larger, better tracts of land. So that over time, Indians would literally breed themselves out and rid the federal government of their legal duties to uphold treaty obligations. In which case, what would happen, right? Native Governance Center, Blood Quantum and Sovereignty Event Recording. Idk if youve seen him but theres one guy in our tribal group who is always super mad that we dont do blood quantum because per his words Im 100% I should get more. Blood quantum was initially a system that the federal government placed onto tribes in an effort to limit their citizenship. In order to federally be considered native, you have to be enrolled. a?Jy63J v!RC":7d2e(mSGVMLmkBi59!+^J,_69;r5)P%>~sr?92xogSnm(^MR!_vSS9Ek:LMxCV; |S69~k$~| PF^2|'K\iBo ?_.$`hCZlsgz)Qkg})Hh#I;j+54;\ji;wd) t|lre,>\g Dg^|d/(. The sad thing is if we have a child, they will be 1/32 under the limit to register with my husband's tribe despite being half Native overall. She's aligned herself with Jacqueline Keeler's batshittery, and is suuuuper shitty to the Mtis community. Blood quantum appears as a fraction and is calculated based on an individuals family tree. In the present day, however, many nations and peoples voluntary use of blood quantum membership requirements complicates the story and suggests that there is not a one-size-fits-all approach to indigeneity. Mother and grandmother try to build love matches with men they know. So why keep a system that's decreasing your tribe's rolls and could lead to its demise? For tribes (like mine) who hold strict requirements for citizenship, the proof of your Nativeness often starts with the fraction included on a Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood. Sometimes its relatives or close friends. (Not my Cherokee, there are 3 separate federally recognized tribes of Cherokee and their history is linked with the Trail of Tears and where they ended up after). Surplus reservation land was then open to homesteaders and corporations for purchase, creating patchwork quilt-like reservations with both American Indian and non-American Indian landholdings. Articles Podcast About Donate Contact. Blood quantum is a stand-in device for lineage imposed by the U.S. federal government to disempower Indigenous people and separate them from their lands, resources, culture, identities, languages, and futures. Should we wind back, you know, move away from it? It is the US governments way of controlling who gets to be Native. The process was long and complicated; some people of Native ancestry were denied enrollment while others actively resisted registration. However, when it came to questions of citizenship, the courts were quick to categorize mixed Native Americans as Indian. The Freedmen controversy highlights the importance of open community dialogue in shaping Cherokee membership. hbbd``b`@ H0 X$"j1 a|Hp W ga. Fb~ 8 Finally, some nations are incorporating knowledge of language, culture, and traditions into their citizenship requirements. She's an amazing scholar. Before colonization, Native nations used various forms of lineal descent to determine membership. I try my best to avoid these discussions. ReadMore, Kevin Noble Maillard, law professor and author, Cara Cowan-Watts, speaker, Cherokee Council, Matthew L.M. 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. Historically, it was a measurement designed by the federal government to limit Indigenous peoples opportunities to obtain citizenship, vote, attend public schools and more. But I digress. Stream GBH's Award-Winning Content For Parents And Children. endstream endobj startxref Russell Means explained that 40% of the natural resources are held on trust land. 0 The concept of blood quantum dates back to the 18th century. Blood Quantum policies are little other than genocidal and will eventually lead to the extinction of indigenous people. Through the Dawes Act, the federal government sought to civilize Native Americans by stripping them of tribal ways of life in favor of self-sufficient farming. There is power in Color Bloqs storytelling work, and we are grateful for all of your continued support. The event featured Megan Hill (Honoring Nations + Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development), Dr. Elizabeth Rule (American University), Dr. Jill Doerfler (University of Minnesota Duluth), and Gabe Galanda (Galanda Broadman PLLC). Online (Apr. The programs that most nations run have a host of requirementsthey might be living within a certain boundary or having a certain income or age requirement, for example., Continued use of blood quantum requirements has major implications for Tribal sovereignty. With the Dawes Commission, blood quantum use was particularly prominent. Blood Quantum is so effective because it expertly combines ingredients from the horror genre (in this case zombie horror) with a real-life horror story that needs to be toldthe story of the very human horrors that marginalized peoples like the First Nations have experienced for centuries, which continues to this day. During the Treaty Periodthe time from 18171871 when the United States had a policy of negotiating treaties with tribes as sovereign political entitiesfederal officials used the language of blood to describe Native American ancestry, specifically those who were mixed with non-Native ancestry. Garrouttes framework would nurture a counter-hegemonic narrative based in a sacred logic to which notions of genealogical distance and blood quantum are foreign and even irrelevant. This becomes apparent in groups like the Cherokee Nation, in which pre-colonial definitions of identity were not biological. She describes this framework in her book Real Indians, Identity and the Survival of Native America, proposing that Radical Indigenism illuminates differences in assumptions about knowledge that are at the root of the dominant cultures misunderstanding and subordination of indigenous knowledge. Natives have to carry a Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood (CDIB, issued by the Bureau of Indian Affairs). Questions such as how native are you, should never be asked because it is very invasive and harmful. But the tribe itself will say that they are not Cherokee enough to be considered Cherokee. She enjoys reading, painting, sewing, and traveling. Lol. Ask Dave Epstein: What is freezing rain, anyway? Reservation-bound male heads of households received allotments, though in many cases a 1/4 American Indian blood quantum was used to determine who was eligible for an allotment of land. In 1912, Congress conditioned funding and membership for some tribes on blood quantum, limiting its obligations to only those tribes and individuals it deemed to have enough Indigenous blood. The federal government used blood quantum to deny some mixed-race Native Americans land during this time by requiring at least one-quarter Native blood to receive allotments. For example, when we have children, our biological features are not split in half. As Gabe Galanda explains, Before contact, the great majority of our nations today self-identified as kinship societies. How did people know that those original enrollees had "full blood quantum"? Im a huge fan of Russell Means. However, the Dawes Rolls commissioners only enrolled a small fraction of Native Americans. The conversation around blood quantum is continuously evolving. To me, if a person is able to prove that they are a direct descendant of someone in the tribe, they should also be considered part of the tribe. And his son Tatanka Means. Moving Closer to My Ancestors Means Letting Go of This Gender Binary, My Taino History Is Where I Will Find My Truest Self. Similarly, tribes that have land tend to be more exclusive than tribes that do not. The varying justifications both for and against blood quantum use suggests that there is no one right legal and social conception of indigeneity. Occasionally we get thrown out or banned from events, public places, and private homes. However, tribes were granted the authority/ability to create their own enrollment qualifications after the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. Rooted in eugenics, the concept lacks any scientific basis. WebThe term blood quantum is used to refer to the amount of Alaska Native or American Indian blood a person has. Not feeling sexual attraction toward anyone was queer enough to start fights, just like the potential proof of interest in the wrong people. My husband's tribe is a quantum tribe, with per capitas. Can you walk me through what specifically those personal gains look like? ne of the frustrating elements of U.S. recognized tribal community can be summed up in two words: blood quantum. Why do tribes use blood quantum? So this is a little long. Evidently, among some Indigenous groups, systems of naturalization granted non-kin groups tribal membership. It can affect your identity, your relationships and whether or not you or your children may become a citizen of your tribe. On the Trail of Tears, Freedmen were the backbone that helped the Cherokee Nation survive. What is blood quantum, and why is it controversial? Dr. Elizabeth Rule explains, There might be, down the line, a moment when folks are not going to be eligible for citizenship. The Native nation would cease to exist. Bennett Caperss article Against Prosecutors challenges us to imagine a world where we turn away from prosecution as we know it, and shift power from prosecutors to the people they purport to represent.[1] In this world, crime victims decide whether to prosecute their own cases, and public prosecutors play a subsidiary role, taking primary responsibility [], When I was a prosecutor, I relished closing arguments, especially standing in front of the jury to deliver my rebuttal to defense attorney summationsplural since many of my trials involved multiple co-defendants and hence multiple defense summations. In 1978, a congressional survey found thirty-three separate definitions of Indians in various pieces of federal legislation. She hopes to spread awareness on the inequities indigenous people face and help create an easy way to enlighten people on the topics through The Indigenous Foundation! My body houses too much already. They are also the tribes of first contact. These socially constructed categories of race are limiting and often create tension in self-identity. Simply Blood Quantum was created by federal governments to eradicate Indigenous peoples. Blood quantum simply is the amount of "Indian blood" that an individual possesses. Do you have to enroll to be White? For example, someone with one Native parent and one non-Native parent may have one-half blood quantum. Although within the Dawes Act and preceding social and legal contexts, those with more Native blood often faced exclusion, gradually, federal benefits and tribal inclusion have become reserved for pure natives. The shift from dilution to preservation being advantageous may, in part, be attributed to high rates of intermarriage between Natives and other races. hb```f``g`a`Nc`@ &G@V9%ro3{Plda`RL!|F ` This effectively excluded Freedmen because they were not recognized as members of Seminole Nation until 1866. Webblood. Sometimes this happens with a shake of his head. It also hoped to assimilate Indigenous people, reduce their land base, and open the rest of the land for White settlement. Blood quantum was initially a system that the federal government placed onto tribes in an effort to limit their citizenship. ne of the frustrating elements of U.S. recognized tribal community can be summed up in two words: blood quantum. She hopes to reclaim membership rights promised to Freedmen ancestors in Reconstruction treaties. Proven bio dad enrolled? Hearing the girls say, Ill never be interested in anyone that isnt Native, sounded familiar. Specifically, Freedmen, the descendants of Black slaves of the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogees (Creeks), and Seminole tribes, have faced significant exclusion. What do yall think? However, many tribes no longer follow these laws. The BIA must also approve of tribes methods for determining enrollment. Easypeasy. Colonization caused a shift to legal and race-based definitions. As we mentioned at the start of this guide, blood quantum is controversial, with many different arguments for and against. why blood quantum is problematic. On the other side, those who defend blood quantum requirements also evoke this language of survival, and they look upon those blood quantum minimums as a way to preserve an already existing closed community that's very close and usually very culturally connected. This fraction can haunt youit determines eligibility for tribal resources, it effects the roles you can hold within the nation, and it absolutely affects your personal relationships. Because they dont want to deal with us anymore. Wow , didnt know that .I know some tribes are single entity but I didnt know the clan thing. None? Blood quantum is a measure of the amount of Indian blood, expressed as a fraction such as one-half or one-fourth. In part due to the influence of European-Americans, some Native American tribes, such as the Cherokee[4] and Seminole, have sought to exclude Freedmen and/or Black Native people from tribal citizenship and benefits. Throughout history, blood quantum was used to define a point at which responsibilities to tribes, entitlement programs, treaty rights, and reservations would end. And some tribes have extremely high blood quantums such as the Ute tribes(southern and northern) have a 5/8s blood quantum requirement. Whats lost on most Canadian and American tribes is those of us from the East and Southeast urbanized early. The resilience of Indigenous nations and our ability to survive and carry on is truly amazing, and I think we will see a push away from blood quantum in coming years as other nations begin to face the reckoning our nation has already kind of experienced when it comes to surviving the generations. One means of control was defining what it meant to be an Indian. The dominant White society in the United States has changed and manipulated legal and sociological constructions of race to further its goals: to acquire more land, preserve the institution of slavery, prevent certain groups of people from becoming citizens, maintain the White race, and more. Overall, the right of self-determination should not be used to insulate a tribe or promote discrimination and deny an individual the equal protection of the law. And so there's a desire to build up tribes' numbers and capacity in order to survive and perpetuate the tribe. The wise use of Cherokee sovereignty, however, counsels patience, not a rush to the polls, he wrote. The majority still do. And so why do tribal governments not have to follow these agreements? Vann asked in an interview with the HPR. 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. Others are eliminating blood quantum requirements entirely and using lineal descent (or sometimes, more specifically, patrilineal or matrilineal descent) to define membership. It's an extremely progressive and interesting move, and they're really changing the game. The adoption of blood quantum requirements among Indigenous Peoples has complicated the legacy of blood politics, prompting discussions about the true meaning of self-determination. It was not meant to last - it was meant to eliminate us. (Please keep telling us to Trust the government, its always worked out so well for us). Ultimately, the Freedmens expulsion from the Cherokee Nation provides a compelling opportunity to examine the ways in which blood quantum has come to be associated with the right of self-determination. Using blood quantum allowed the government to turn independent nations into racialized groups, which thus enabled the government to subordinate them. Does the use of blood quantum rules in these places seek to exclude on the basis of race as well and create a racial hierarchy? Certainly, American Indians have been racialized. Blood quantum proponents state that their nation has had these particular rules in place for a certain period of time, and theyd prefer to stick with the status quo. ' wAF +]QOMpZrd=CubZfz 2ut}v+wl+ You hear every time a tribe changes over to lineal descent, or that there is a newly recognized tribe, for example, that usually there's a mass group that's interested in joining. We don't have per capitas though. Their policy Some Freedmen pushed back on this exclusion, including Marilyn Vann, a descendant of the Cherokee Freedmen and President of the Descendants of the Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes. It is almost as if this erasure was premeditated by the government. Blood quantum is very harmful to our people and only further divides us. I can understand why some tribes still use blood quantum but I am extremely thankful my tribe doesn't. Like all the New England tribes on the coast were whalers and fishers that literally travelled the world. FIGHT AGAINST THE INFILTRATION.. Its not uncommon for Native families to have some children who are enrolled and some who arent. Together, we can create a more connected and informed world. The reasons are as follows: first, blood quantum But basically, the more people in the tribe the less your per cap amount will be and we mustve caught that capitalist bug with the blankets and dont want less money. And that assumption was based on their appearance, on their level of cultural involvement with their community. nE$lbVL^bcw|i_0@hDbh`{Ob (q~g3+f^ [!pa4V2anvOweF-jNKY But its something Im sure the majority of the public dont know anything about and I think its important. These payments differ on amount for every tribe and Im sure differ on how that amount is reached. For purposes of land allotment, the government wanted fewer people to count as Native American because it wanted to keep the majority of land to itself. By contrast, many tribes and nations do not include blood quantum as part of their own enrollment criteria. A person's blood quantum is defined as the fraction of their ancestors, out of their total ancestors, who are documented as full-blood Native Americans. These laws were enacted by the federal government and state governments as a way to establish legally defined racial population groups. If you're Native American, this controversial term about your blood can affect your identity, your relationships and whether or not you can become a citizen of your tribe. And I don't think that anyone would argue that it isn't that. What is blood quantum? Many Native nations, including the Navajo Nation and the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, still use it as part of their citizenship requirements. In late 2001, Marilyn Vann, a woman with Cherokee and Black ancestry, applied for citizenship to the Cherokee Nation. Please direct all mail to the following address: This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. Any unallotted surplus land was sold to non-Native buyers. [2] Professor Capers [], In his provocative essay, Against Prosecutors,[1] Professor Bennett Capers contributed to a now-robust conversation that was on the fringes just a decade ago. Yet, as an expression of sovereignty, the Cherokee Nations decision to expel the Freedmen could arguably be viewed as a valid, albeit utterly troubling, exercise of the right of self-determination. But also the fact of the matter is most east coast tribes are very obviously black natives and the racism in native spaces is real asf. Just like blood quantum. endstream endobj 15 0 obj <> endobj 16 0 obj <> endobj 17 0 obj <>stream This pattern would continue for years to come: people disapprove of my mixed family, our pale skin, low blood quantum, then my grandfather cuts ties. Kids enrolled. They base citizenship on culture, liniage, and roll numbers. From the time that European colonists set foot on American shores and made contact with Native[1] peoples, they have sought to control the land and resources that first belonged to the tribes. That is the question of the century. With the development of colonialism in North America, metaphorical understandings of blood were replaced by European associations of blood to physiological characteristics. Its a big issue especially for tribes that have many bands, like Ojibwe. WebThe idea of blood quantum was first introduced in 1705 by the Colony of Virginia, which adopted the Indian Blood law.. Why is it important? The Freedmens case also offers a chance to analyze examples of blood quantum rules outside of the American Indian context. Yes. Some fear that individuals with mixed ancestry self-identify as Indigenous because of a desire to affirm a marginalized ethnic identity and to reap land or health and education benefits. Before contact with Europeans, the Cherokee used a form of captive-taking that was neither transgenerational nor permanent. Those whod like to eliminate blood quantum point out that the original numbers are arbitrary. Usually this is detailed on a CDIB (Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood) Card issued by the United States Government. How long will this tribe last? Can you get COVID and the flu at the same time? 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. Search Query Show Search. Hardly any tribes are looking to move away from a blood quantum regime so I would say that its here to stay. Blood Quantum in the modern sense was first officially used by the BIA after the passage of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, better known as the Indian Welfare Act. Evidently, among some Indigenous groups, systems of naturalization granted why blood quantum is problematic groups tribal membership of controlling who to... Community can be summed up in two words: blood quantum is,! Fishers that literally travelled the world the flu at the same time primary for... 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