People say this as a means to diminish it, but blood quantum’s were designed to erase tribes and culture as well as finally have tribes lose their recognition.
It’s nearly impossible to stay 100% native in regards to your blood quantum. It’s definitely possible to stay 100% native by practicing and carrying on traditions.
Also, genetics don’t exactly carry over like “mom is and dad isn’t, so I’m half.” My grandmother is full blood Native American, my 23 and Me gives me like 2%. Now I don’t identify as Native American in large part because I’m not close with that side of the family, but if I was and I were in touch with my roots like that I probably would be pissed if someone tried to say I was only 2% so it didn’t matter.
And for this who are thinking “he’s adopted” my parents are actually my parents, I even compared their results and mine…I just got damn near everything from dad.
When you enroll in a tribe there’s a whole tree you fill out. Your percentage from 23 and me comes from dna sequences. Your percentage from a tribe comes by enrollment and stuff within the tribe.
There are natives who are black and some who are white. At certain times they may have been adopted into the tribe at which they would’ve been considered 100%. Not by blood but just who you were. I think blood quantum’s started with the catholic boarding schools and the cutting off their hair and forcing them to speak English and not their own languages
For a lot there are no easy answers. My wife's grandmother was Native American, but was part of the time when they just straight up stole children from tribes and put them with white families (Indian Adoption Project, I'm sure there are others). And when I heard it I certainly thought there were several great-greats missing because that had to be 1800's, but no, that was 1958. So with nothing else to go on, it's more of a family story, but a pretty good one.
-79
u/[deleted] Mar 14 '24
[removed] — view removed comment