First gender, now race

[Qnts2]

 

 

In the U.S., the government defines minorities. They have set a minmum percentage of Native American to be recognized as Native American, so by government laws, a white person can no longer become a Native American. 

 

 

Actually it isnt the feds who determine the standard of native american blood to be recognized as such. Each tribe sets its own standards to be recognized as such. Some are very strict, no less than 1/4. Others are quite lax and permit even 1/64. 

 

 

While tribes might accept a person with minimal Native American ‘blood’, the Bureau of Indian Affairs which offers certain benefits as a minority and as a member of certain tribes so the ‘quantum blood’ or percentage is a factor when dealing with the government.  Tribal roles and percentages are all government terms to determine if a person is Native American enough to get benefits. It is not how tribes actually define membership.  

 

http://www.indian-affairs.org/resources/aaia_faqs.htm

 

My husband and I researched his family and found that the very first Native American who married a person who was ‘part White’ claimed the children as white. Why? Because where the tribe lived, the government had a sterilization program to keep Abenaki Indians from having children. Actually the eugenics program spread thru 30 states. The young women were not told what they were doing to them. So, if a person could claim white on their childrens birth certificate, it was extremely important. This forced sterilization started around the 1930's and finally ended in the 1970's.  

 

Vermont did not recognize the Abenaki as a people until 2006, but refused to recognize any tribes. Finally, Vermont recognized 2 tribes in 2011.  It was a very different situation in Vermont where there were no reservations or recognized tribal councils until very recently. 

 

Added:

 

I am adding a Cherokee web site which explains some objections to the blood quantum:

 

http://www.allthingscherokee.com/blood-quantum/

 

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.

 

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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 Cherokee 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.

 

For the Abenaki, recognition in the U.S. has been a huge issue. A political problem was that some feared recognition would require certain actions or privileges from the state, going back for years. The Abenaki lived in New England and Canada (Quebec). They are recognized in Quebec Canada. 

[Guest shiloh357]

What I discovered in an interview I was watching earlier is how many white people are either in or in associated with the NAACP.   There are other presidents of regional chapters who are white and one of them was taking part in the panel being interviewed.  So even if she has a passion for the African American community, she could have come in as a white woman and would have had an even bigger impact on structural racism than a black woman, and that is a statement coming from a black woman in the interview.    So had she come in honestly as a white woman, she would have been accepted and could have done so much more and still maintain her credibility, which at this point is completely shot, and what's worse is now she is in legal hot water, as well.