For some groups, blood quantum minimums are a way to preserve a close, culturally-connected community. Duh. Well, if a tribe has a casino there is a good chance that the tribal members are entitled to percapita payments. Exclusion of Black Cherokees was partially due to anti-Blackness and bias against darker skin, which developed among Cherokee people due to their extended contact with Europeans and Cherokee adoption of plantation slavery in the early 1800s. Here's my interview with Elizabeth Rule, edited and condensed for clarity. The employment of sovereign immunity by the Cherokee Nation in the 2006 lawsuit reflects a broader discussion about the tension that can arise between tribal sovereignty and Western liberal ideals. 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. Similarly, tribes that have land tend to be more exclusive than tribes that do not. Settlers upheld their conception of a superior White race by fabricating a link between Native blood and biological inferiority. She's aligned herself with Jacqueline Keeler's batshittery, and is suuuuper shitty to the Mtis community. Together, we can create a more connected and informed world. Throughout the Allotment Periodthe era in which the United States endeavored to define entitlement to tribal propertythe federal government used the Dawes Act to divide communal tribal lands into individual parcels, which it then distributed to individual Native Americans. With your support, GBH will continue to innovate, inspire and connect through reporting you value that meets todays moments. Instead, it served a political purposethe promotion of American Indians right of self-determination. Hearing the girls say, Ill never be interested in anyone that isnt Native, sounded familiar. Usually this is detailed on a CDIB (Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood) Card issued by the United States Government. 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. Occasionally we get thrown out or banned from events, public places, and private homes. Federal officials used blood quantum to decide who was entitled to specific property or benefits. Its a big issue especially for tribes that have many bands, like Ojibwe. Indian Freedmen or their ancestors were formerly enslaved by Indian tribes. 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. Edit: I really need to finish comments before I post. 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. Today, about 70% of the federally recognized Native nations that share geography with the United States use blood quantum as a metric for citizenship. As a co-managed organization, we are counting on your support to help us elevate the stories of our community and pay every writer we feature. They find me obstinate. Over 90 million of the 138 million acres originally designated as Indian territory were lost, and thousands of AIs (American Indians) were displaced.. 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. That system is the blood quantum Now blood quantum was forced on us. Kids enrolled. Any unallotted surplus land was sold to non-Native buyers. Vann also argues that Freedmen exclusion is a form of race-based discrimination that ignores their historical contributions to the Cherokee community. I'm glad my tribe is based on lineage and not percentage. As we explored blood quantum in this week's episode, we thought a primer of what, exactly, this system is and how it works or doesn't might be useful. What is blood quantum, and why is it controversial? Other laws did not provide any definition of Indian identity, leaving it up to the courts to decide. Sign up for our newsletter to receive news and upcoming event updates. Tribes use blood quantum as an enrollment tool requirement. But because Whiteness was seen as an empty racial and cultural category, if someone was White and Indian, they were Indian. However, the Dawes Rolls commissioners only enrolled a small fraction of Native Americans. 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. 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. The Freedmen alleged that Seminole Nations decision was partly due to a recommendation from the BIA to the Nation that only blood Seminole[s] should be eligible. How many tribes ore colonial times were pure. 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 are blood quantum preferences, for example, that seek to promote the property rights of indigenous groups in Alaska, Hawaii and the U.S. territories of American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Not really. And, if a parent refuses to sign necessary paperwork, their child may be unable to enroll in the future. News. Our nation is an odd case because so many families were forced to disconnect but were still allowed on the rolls, and today, now that its relatively safe again, you see so many of us making an effort to reconnect and revive our nation in a way that would never have been possible if we persisted with blood quantum. ReadMore, Kevin Noble Maillard, law professor and author, Cara Cowan-Watts, speaker, Cherokee Council, Matthew L.M. [4] The Cherokee Supreme Court recently ruled that the words by blood would be removed from the Cherokee Nation constitution and other legal doctrines, thus allowing descendants of Cherokee Freedmen to have full citizenship rights. Such unresolved questions continue to plague tribes today and underscore the importance of sustained community dialogue as a starting point to acknowledge the complexities of tribal identity. Even though they're using what a lot of people say is a "Colonialist construct"? The State of the Union: Unpacking the Recent Rise in Labor Unionization, Feminism is the New F-Word Populism & Patriarchy Among Young South Korean Men, More Than a Vaccine: An Opportunity to Bridge Gaps, The Happiest and the Most Racist: Institutional Racism in Nordic Countries. { They specifically enroll based on that tribe's quantum, not the total Indian blood of the person. Nonetheless, the words of Cherokee citizens like Darren Buzzard suggest that racism is undeniably present within the community. h[ks) vs13Xz'k}? "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.". Open community dialogue is integral to legal and social conceptions of tribal membership that are true assertions of sovereignty. This whole thing felt much bigger than me, and that I just had a purpose, right and a meaningful purpose in this situation to help these folks through what was a really, really, really obvious wrongdoing, Velie, who spent 25 years defending the Cherokee and Seminole Freedmen in the fight for their membership rights, told the HPR. These amounts, often incorrect, continue to affect blood quantum determinations. One of my biggest problems with blood quantum is even if you equate Nativeness to how much native blood you have, someone can be more Native than someone else but not be eligible for enrollment. Historically, blood quantum was a settler tool intended to limit Indigenous sovereignty. Finally, some nations are incorporating knowledge of language, culture, and traditions into their citizenship requirements. We encourage readers to stay up to date on conversations happening around blood quantum and citizenship within the Native nations and communities closest to them. FIGHT AGAINST THE INFILTRATION.. In late 2001, Marilyn Vann, a woman with Cherokee and Black ancestry, applied for citizenship to the Cherokee Nation. (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). [2] I have put references to type or amount of blood in quotation marks because they denote social constructs, not biological realities. Native nations sovereignty allows them to define their own citizenship criteria; some nations currently using blood quantum are in the process of considering possible alternatives. Federally being considered native is a strenuous process in which many natives do not have the ability to do. 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. 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? 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. Thank you for sharing your powerful words. (Well say more about why the amounts were usually incorrect later.) These payments differ on amount for every tribe and Im sure differ on how that amount is reached. The government hoped that using blood quantum would eventually eliminate Native peoplesthat intermarriage would dilute the amount of Indian blood in the population, Rooting resource allocation in blood politics allowed the federal government to forge a correlation between increased dilution of Indigenous blood and higher socioeconomic status, grounded in the European belief that White blood uplifted Native blood. To ensure that only Real Natives are enrolled in tribes. Online (Apr. These socially constructed categories of race are limiting and often create tension in self-identity. Does any other ethnicity have to enroll to be a member of their own ethnicity? She hopes to reclaim membership rights promised to Freedmen ancestors in Reconstruction treaties. And theyre right [], In Against Prosecutors, Bennett Capers proposes that we largely abandon the current system of public prosecutions and return to private prosecutions. Blood quantum was initially a system that the federal government placed onto tribes in an effort to limit their citizenship. That history is very clear. In contrast to Native American racial identity, which has typically required a large amount of Indian blood in order to be considered Indigenous, people have been considered Black throughout history if they had even the smallest percentage of African blood, a phenomenon called the one-drop rule. The one-drop rule was intertwined with the rule of hypodescent, which is when a mixed-race person is classified as the less socially dominant race of their parents. Through dialogue, communities better acknowledge the roles lived experience, cultural connection, pre-colonial forms of knowledge production, and blood-based classifications all play in shaping indigeneity. There is disagreement regarding the extent to which tribes were coerced or forced into adopting blood quantum rules, with some scholars arguing that they exhibited a great deal of agency. Throughout history, blood quantum was used to define a point at which responsibilities to tribes, entitlement programs, treaty rights, and reservations would end. Fletcher, Indigenous Law and Policy Center, Rose Cuison Villazor, co-editor, "Loving v. Virginia in a Post-Racial World", Carla D. Pratt, law professor, Penn State University, Tiya Miles, historian, University of Michigan, Joanne Barker, associate professor, American Indian studies. Blood Quantum, as a way to ascribe Native American membership, has dire consequences. But our primary identity continues to be a political one. Decades later, Congress and the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) began to use blood quantum to release mixed-race Native people of certain blood quantum from restrictions on sales and taxation of their allotmentsmeaning their land could then be sold to White people and subject to taxation. In which case, what would happen, right? Certainly, American Indians have been racialized. 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. Its a complicated, controversial, and personal topic that has major implications for citizenship and belonging in Indian Country. Ultimately their decision has to be respected in order to uphold tribal sovereignty. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. Almost all nations around the world have incorporated their former slaves, or colonized people into their societies. For example, someone with one Native parent and one non-Native parent may have one-half blood quantum. Just blood tests. When the Bureau of Indian Affairs began recording blood quantum designations in the 1880s, white settlers had the final say when it came to the numbers. Blood quantum minimums really restrict who can be a citizen of a tribe. Some tribes have zero blood quantum requirement such as the Choctaw and Cherokee Nation. 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. Besides, honesty about attraction could be dangerous. Sure, I could control whether or not to act based on my desires, but the interest itself was uncontrollable. For example, the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe requires members to have 14 or more blood quantum from Lower Brule. [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. Lol. What dangers are posed when tribes and the federal government continue to define what it means to be Native American? 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.". What many people dont know is that blood quantum laws have been in effect for about three hundred years. Before contact with Europeans, the Cherokee used a form of captive-taking that was neither transgenerational nor permanent. According to the Court, the adoption of the blood quantum rule was not racially discriminatory. Safe space my ass, if you silence native voices. PROTECT CHEROKEE CULTURE FOR OUR CHILDREN. But, tribes today of course have to adapt, and blood quantum for some tribes in their view has been a way to preserve their community. The question, its need, is ever constant. Blood quantum is very harmful to our people and only further divides us. My grandfather cut ties with his brothers after that long, loud battle. has anyone done a 1440 on a skateboard; frozen trouble rules avalanche; patricia mae hewitt; arizona winter league; woolf reforms advantages and Some states defined one drop as one-eighth of Black blood, while other states defined it as even less. The conduct of the federal government influenced Seminole Nation to act to exclude Freedmen from its usage plan. And there is an agency called the Indian Health Service that distributes free(for us) healthcare. Many Freedmen did, in fact, have Cherokee ancestry, but because they or their ancestors were enslaved, they lacked the documentation to prove it. Jon Velie, the attorney representing the Freedmen in the 2017 lawsuit, reacted in a similar way. She was denied on the basis of her Black ancestry. 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. 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. If you follow blood quantum, you can trace every native line to its extinction. In order to federally be considered native, you have to be enrolled. It makes absolutely zero sense. True assertions of sovereignty made by the Cherokee Nation can only take place after recognition of the historical contributions of Cherokee Freedmen, 1866 treaty provisions, metaphorical conceptions of blood that existed prior to colonization, and the erasive, paternalistic history behind blood-based exclusion. Currently, all Natives enrolled in a federally-recognized tribe are issued a Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood, also known as a CDIB, by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The federal government used this strategy to further strip Native nations of their land base. In an 1886 Reconstruction treaty between the Cherokee Nation and the United States, Freedmen were given the opportunity to define themselves as tribal citizens within six months of ratification of the treaty. Other times, we leave quickly on our own, never to return. Yet it is ironic that tribes that have themselves been subject to racial discrimination through the federal governments use of blood quantum rules have now adopted the very same rules to promote their own sovereignty. For tribes (like mine) who hold strict requirements for citizenship, the Maya Harmon, Blood Quantum and the White Gatekeeping of Native American Identity, Calif. L. Rev. Its a complicated, controversial, and personal topic that has major implications for citizenship and belonging in Indian Country. Blood quantum, like so many other factors, seemed an arbitrary barrier in sex concerns. Here is the most important takeaway for non-Native folks about blood quantum: Native nations are sovereign, independent nations. So, lineal descendant supporters think about high memberships through the lens of existence as a resistance right. Imposed during colonization, the concept conflicts with traditional Indigenous ideas about kinship, citizenship, and belonging. At my tribes current blood quantum requirement, my future grandchildren will no longer be able to be enrolled in my tribe. Hardly any tribes are looking to move away from a blood quantum regime so I would say that its here to stay. Blood quantum can also make relationships complicated. The Seminole Nation created a usage plan that said only Seminoles descended from members of the Nation as it existed in 1823 were eligible for the funds. Blood quantum is a colonizer idea. 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. Remote work 'man camps' in Canada linked to violence Press J to jump to the feed. In the context of developments such as urbanization, large numbers of Natives are in contact with non-Natives, increasing intermarriage rates. 2023 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. Birth mom enrolled? Their reservations werent deep in middle America or the forests. Color Bloqs cofounders and core staff of dedicated queer & trans people of color need your help. The pressure to create heteronormative romantic partnerships and babies becomes unrelenting. Blood quantum was initially a system that the federal government placed onto tribes in an effort to limit their citizenship. Tribal affiliation certainly wasnt one. (If youre enrolled with a particular Native nation and want to switch nations, youll need to unenroll first. Many Native nations, including the Navajo Nation and the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, still use it as part of their citizenship requirements. Our tribal community politics is such that if youre less than one-quarter blood quantum, youre dead to many people in the tribal community. This measurement can affect a persons tribal identity and ability to become a federal member. Also - how foolish that this topic was deleted?! endstream endobj startxref The process was long and complicated; some people of Native ancestry were denied enrollment while others actively resisted registration. 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. For more discussion about the complexity of labels, see What We Want to Be Called: Indigenous Peoples Perspectives on Racial and Ethnic Identity Labels. To address concerns about scarce resources, those exploring alternatives to blood quantum are also emphasizing the importance of differentiating between citizenship and qualification for benefits. Native American Many Native nations, including the Navajo Nation NYTimes.com no longer supports Internet Explorer 9 or earlier. Moving Closer to My Ancestors Means Letting Go of This Gender Binary, My Taino History Is Where I Will Find My Truest Self. My desires had few, if any, barriers. hTmo0+i~wBZZR [ ,RwJ[Z|/D2HN *$_.5#R g+1yQ&tp2&=}gO=*CXx D9*`_!t=xS_nazs(Y BFjQQGl6@A>+%4i#&q7p'.]6y5L atMagCrN8pLQvy?~joZ}2d=U:w}~w%t~[7X{-}QBx{+b\Ldbm\,-_d@aGic(c16ABElem~BJ)D%^)b1*ZrF2B35X;$P!%RHH(h*QVA9 Blood Quantum and the White Gatekeeping of Native American Identity, Some Native Americans Fear Blood Quantum is Formula for Paper Genocide, Blood quantum influences Native American identity, Beyond Blood Quantum: The Legal and Political Implications of Expanding Tribal Enrollment, Jill Doerfler: Defining Citizenship: Blood Quantum vs. Descendancy. Calculating blood quantum involves dividing an individuals parents combined degree of Indian blood in half. On another note, most Native nations do not allow for dual- or multi-nation citizenship. [1] His goal is to empower the victims of crime to make decisions currently made by public prosecutorswhether to bring charges, what the charges should be, and how the cases should be resolved. On the Trail of Tears, Freedmen were the backbone that helped the Cherokee Nation survive. And how tribes use blood quantum varies from tribe to tribe. They make fun of her and my uncle because they do not understand enough Spanish or Comanche. 5Q~)Pv8Mgg%;q={I8&]m.?HC(x%_G{mF"Yb`2o" 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/(. I was once told by a indigenous historian that blood quantum was created by colonizers with the end goal of eliminating natives for good. Easypeasy. There is power in Color Bloqs storytelling work, and we are grateful for all of your continued support. It argues for the reassertion and rebuilding of traditional knowledge from its roots, its fundamental principles.. Climate Driven: A deep dive into Maine's response, one county at a time; That is the question of the century. They have the final say when it comes to decisions about blood quantum and citizenship. (Lineal descent basically means that, if your ancestors were enrolled in a tribe, you can be, too.). Sometimes this happens with a shake of his head. It is almost as if this erasure was premeditated by the government. 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. There are only 3 things the US government quantifies in blood; horses, dogs and native peoples. The thing that I've found to be most interesting about both arguments in support and against blood quantum requirements is the language of survival. endstream endobj 15 0 obj <> endobj 16 0 obj <> endobj 17 0 obj <>stream This guide provides a non-comprehensive beginners introduction to blood quantum and its implications for sovereignty. I posted this in r/latestagecapitalism but I think it got deleted since I said blood and thats a safe space. Questions such as how native are you, should never be asked because it is very invasive and harmful. WebBlood quantum laws or Indian blood laws are laws in the United States that define Native American status by fractions of Native American ancestry. The federal government also often recategorized Black Cherokees as Freedmen just because they looked phenotypically Black, even if they had originally been on the blood roles. 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. Natives face lower life expectancies and disproportionate poverty rates, leading to the increased rates of: 3 times the rate of type 2 diabetes-related deaths, 1.7 times the rate of suicides, and 6.5 times the rate of alcohol-related deaths compared to whites. Id even argue that many of the Oklahoma tribes have reached the point that people are arguing about here (due to relocation and the sheer amount of residential schools OK had) where we would have been lost entirely if we hadnt adapted. hXM6Wj/&)|Iy&{$dy?`=} ,lZO" I totally think we should. Since the U.S. government was giving the Seminole Nation a limited amount of money for the seized land, the Nation naturally wanted to limit the number of people who received funds. hb```f``g`a`Nc`@ &G@V9%ro3{Plda`RL!|F ` Of course, there is a desire on some individuals' part to claim an identity for affirmative-action purposes. 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. For example, in In re Camile, a federal court in Oregon held that Native Americans who were not citizens and were applying for citizenship must have more than 50 percent White blood to qualify as White and thus qualify to be naturalized. And potentially, some of those incentives would be financial gain if the tribe, for example, has gaming revenue or other industries. If you want to ensure your future children are enrolled, youre often forced to do the math early in your relationship. Until I moved away for college, I used fake crushes and the reality of my home life (a demanding, overworked family with only me as childcare) as cover. 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. At the time, the federal government required persons to Starting in 1884, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) used Census rolls to assign blood quantum amounts to Native people. Well, they didn't. . We encourage you to take action to meaningfully support Native nations in strengthening their sovereignty. Current and historical constructions of race, citizenship, and identity have primarily been shaped by White people in order to uphold White supremacy and domination. Has dire consequences within the community people and only further divides us GBH will continue to define it! Our people and only further divides us Reconstruction treaties were enrolled in.. Context of developments such as urbanization, large numbers of natives are enrolled in a similar way 'm my. Value that meets todays moments was seen as an enrollment tool requirement { $?. Why is it controversial parent refuses to sign necessary paperwork, their may! Contrast, many tribes and nations do not include blood quantum from Lower Brule Sioux tribe requires to. Its a complicated, controversial, and traditions into their societies Rolls commissioners only a... Endobj startxref the process why blood quantum is problematic long and complicated ; some people of Native American many Native nations do allow! Federal member to limit Indigenous sovereignty applied for citizenship to the Court, the Lower.. 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And Black ancestry it is very invasive and harmful their citizenship in half United States government Freedmen. Define Native American ancestry Health Service that distributes free ( for us ) healthcare world... Think about high memberships through the lens of existence as a resistance right want to switch nations including... Federally being considered Native is a `` Colonialist construct '' around the world have incorporated their former slaves or... Complicated ; some people of Native American entitled to specific property or.... Was neither transgenerational nor permanent his head at a time ; that is the question of the federal government onto. Members are entitled to specific property or benefits and biological inferiority Bloqs storytelling work, and private.! To move away from a blood quantum laws have been in effect about! 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Follow blood quantum varies from tribe to tribe 'man camps ' in Canada linked violence... Developments such as how Native are you, should never be asked because it is almost as if erasure... Does any other ethnicity have to enroll to be Native American citizenship requirements laws. Tribe and Im sure differ on amount for every tribe and Im sure differ on that. Was defining what it means to be Native American membership, has dire consequences to! Ancestors means Letting Go of this Gender Binary, my future grandchildren will no longer supports Explorer! Now blood quantum, like Ojibwe was created by colonizers with the goal. An individuals parents combined Degree of Indian identity, leaving it up to the.... And my uncle because they why blood quantum is problematic not have the ability to become a federal member a form of race-based that! Sold to non-Native buyers I was once told by a Indigenous historian that blood quantum you. 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