You're an
Indian? What part?"
That's the
universal question many mixed-blood American Indians are asked every day. How
many times have you mentioned in passing that you are (insert your tribe) to
find your conversation interrupted by intrusive questions about percentage? How
many times have you answered those questions? Well stop! That's right -- stop
answering rude questions.
Have you ever
been talking to someone who mentioned that they were part Hispanic, part
African-American, part Jewish, part Italian, part Korean, etc.? Have you ever
asked them what percentage? Hopefully your answer is no, because if your answer
is yes, then you're rude. It would be rude to ask someone what part Hispanic
they are, but we accept that people can ask us what part (your tribe) we are.
This is a double standard brought about by our collective history as American
Indians, and is one we should no longer tolerate.
The history of
blood quantum begins with the Indian rolls and is a concept introduced to
American Indians by white culture. Throughout early Native history, blood never
really played a factor in determining who was or was not included in a tribe.
Many American Indian tribes practiced adoption, a process whereby non-tribal
members would be adopted into the tribe and over time become fully functioning
members of the group. Adoption was occasionally preceded by capture. Many
tribes would capture members of neighboring tribes, white settlers, or members
of enemy tribes. These captives would replace members of the tribe who had
died. They would often be bestowed with some of the same prestige and duties of
the person they were replacing. While the transformation from captive to tribal
member was often a long and difficult one, the captive would eventually become
an accepted member of the tribe. The fact that the adoptee was sometimes of a
different ethnic origin was of little importance to the tribe.
It wasn't until
the federal government became involved in Indian government that quantum became
an issue. One of the attributes collected on a person signing one of the many
Indian rolls was their quantum. However, this was highly subjective as it was
simply a question that the roll takers would allow the people to answer for
themselves. Kind of a stupid question
back then because any tribal person would say” full “meaning yes I’m a full
member of my tribe. They would not
understand how a person could be only part of a tribe. It’s a known fact that some quantum’s are recorded
incorrectly. A case of two blood sister’s
was listed with generationally different quanta even though they were sisters
with the same mother and father and have the exact same quantum.
In this day and
age, however, quantum is heavily relied upon for determining eligibility for
tribal recognition. In order to become a registered citizen of any federally
recognized tribe you must first get a CDIB (Certificate of Degree of Indian
Blood). This CDIB is issued by the BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs) and simply
states that the United States government certifies that you have a specified
degree of Indian blood and are eligible to be a member of a given federally
recognized tribe. Once you have a CDIB you can become a recognized citizen of
that tribe.
In addition, many
Indian tribes include their own quantum restrictions for citizenship. Some have
¼ some have 1/8 others have no restrictions; you need to only prove that you
are an Ancestral Descendant.
Many tribes today
only have ¼ or less of that tribe’s blood by all members, some might be more by
being mixed from other tribes and some might be less.
When considering
these numbers it is important to remember that most tribes were in direct
contact with white settlers very early in American history. Many prominent families include intermarried
whites as far back as the colonial period -- prior to the American Revolution.
As you can imagine, with over two hundred years of intermarriage, many tribes
today have some very confusing fractions to spit out every time someone asks,
"What part Indian are you?"
But why do we, as
tribes or individuals, think that a number is sufficient in proving our heritage?
Blood quantum is just that -- a number -- a sterile, inhuman way of calculating
authenticity. When a person asks, "What part (insert your tribe) are
you?" they are trying to quantify your authenticity. If the answer given
is a small percentage or an incomprehensible fraction, the answer's heritage is
called into question. Why? Does the fact that my ancestor Granny Hopper married
a Scottish trader take away from the fact that Granny Hopper will forever be my
great, great grandma? No, it just means that one of my other great, great, great
grandmas had a really neat Scottish accent.
We are not Gregor
Mendel's cross-pollinated pea plants; we are people. Our ethnicity and cultural
identity is tied to our collective and ancestral history, our upbringing, our
involvement with our tribe and community, our experiences, memories and
self-identity. To measure our "Indianness" by a number is to
completely eliminate the human element. And to allow others to judge us based
on that number is to continue a harmful trend.
This is what is called Genocide by ruling out who you are; soon you will
become nothing in the eyes of the Government.
Next time someone
asks you what part (your tribe) you are, tell them it's irrelevant. If you're
braver than me, challenge them by explaining that they are asking a rude
question. Because in the end, the answer doesn't matter. You're a whole person,
not the sum of your "parts." If any "part" of you is (your
tribe), then you are Native Period. I
personally am going to start saying “Enough”.
Author’s unknown
