Blood Quantum Laws or
Indian Blood Laws is an umbrella term that describes legislation enacted to define membership in
Native AmericanNative Americans in the United States is the phrase that describes indigenous peoples from North America now encompassed by the continental United States, including parts of Alaska and the island state of Hawaii. They comprise a large number of distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of...
groups. "Blood quantum" refers to attempts to calculate the degree of racial
inheritanceInheritance is the practice of passing on property, titles, debts, and obligations upon the death of an individual. It has long played an important role in human societies...
for a given individual. Its use started in 1705 when Virginia adopted laws which made both a person of American race and a person of half-American race ( a "half-blood" in other words) as legally inferior persons.
Blood Quantum Laws or
Indian Blood Laws is an umbrella term that describes legislation enacted to define membership in
Native AmericanNative Americans in the United States is the phrase that describes indigenous peoples from North America now encompassed by the continental United States, including parts of Alaska and the island state of Hawaii. They comprise a large number of distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of...
groups. "Blood quantum" refers to attempts to calculate the degree of racial
inheritanceInheritance is the practice of passing on property, titles, debts, and obligations upon the death of an individual. It has long played an important role in human societies...
for a given individual. Its use started in 1705 when Virginia adopted laws which made both a person of American race and a person of half-American race ( a "half-blood" in other words) as legally inferior persons. Blood Quantum was not dominantly used until the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 when the government started using it to document whom it considered Native American.
Origin of Blood Quantum Law
The blood quantum law or "Indian Blood law" was a racially motivated law, created by European Americans. The law was created during the 18th century, specifically 1705, in Virginia. Many Native American tribes did not adopt the use of blood quantum law until the government introduced the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. Some tribes, such as the
Navajo NationThe Navajo Nation is a semi-autonomous Native American homeland covering about 26,000 square miles , occupying all of northeastern Arizona, the southeastern portion of Utah, and northwestern New Mexico...
, did not accept the constitution of that law until the 1950s. The blood quantum laws have greatly reduced the numbers of many Native American tribes, and some tribes are reducing requirements to help increase the native population and in revolt against the racially motivated laws.
Problems caused by Blood Quantum Laws
Many Native People have become used to the idea of "blood quantum". The blood quantum laws have caused many problems in Native American families, where they have full or partial descent. In some cases there have been family members or entire families that have been excluded from being enrolled in their tribe even when they have no non-Native American ancestors. Several tribes, such as the
LumbeeThe Lumbee are a Native American tribe recognized by the state of North Carolina. The name "Lumbee" is derived from the region near the Lumber River that winds through Robeson County, North Carolina....
and the
SeminoleThe Seminole are a Native American people originally of Florida, who now reside primarily in that state and Oklahoma. The Seminole nation was formed in the 18th century in a process of ethnogenesis...
had conflicts with the federal government because they had many members mixed with
African AmericanAfrican Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa. In the United States, the terms are generally used for Americans with at least partial Sub-Saharan African ancestry...
. The conflicts were racially motivated as a person with African American and Native American admixture was considered unpure and classified solely as African American despite their heritage. Even a person with
European AmericanA European American is a person who resides in the United States and is either from Europe or is the descendant of European immigrants or founding colonists. Spanish Americans are the earliest European American group, with a continuous presence since 1565...
and Native American admixture was considered unpure by
CaucasianWhite American is an umbrella term officially employed by the United States Census Bureau, Office of Management and Budget and other U.S...
standards. Furthermore, when the censuses were taken in the 1930s and the 1940s many people of African Amerian and Native American descent whom were either biracial or multiracial were largely classified as black. The result of the racial classification based on the one drop rule has negatively effected many individuals with African American and Native American descent because they are unable to prove residence on a reservation nor prove that they meet the required ancestry needed to be enrolled. Slavery was also one of the many ways that Native Americans and African Americans intermarried because they were enslaved at the same time and shared a common experience of enslavement.
Children adopted into non-Native families are unable to be federally recognized even when they have a biological parent who is enrolled in a tribe. In addition, census rolls taken for tribes such as the
CherokeeThe Cherokee are a Native American people from the Southeastern United States...
were incomplete and due to intermarriage, immigration, treaties, or because they were not living within the boundaries of the nation, they would not be recorded on their tribe's rolls. Blood quantum laws also help create racism among tribal members and was used as reasoning by a few members of the
five civilized tribesThe Five Civilized Tribes is the term applied to five Native American nations, the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole, considered civilized by white settlers during that time period because they adopted many of the colonists' customs and had generally good relations with their...
to practice
slaveryNative Americans like many civilizations did have a form of slavery, but not similar to the form of European enslavement of Africans. European influence greatly changed the form of slavery Native Americans used and created destructive wars among themselves, and against European slave...
as the majority of slave owners were mixed with European ancestry and some believed they were of higher hierarchy over full bloods or those mixed with African American.
Problems with Genetics
Many researchers have published articles that caution that genetic ancestry DNA testing has limitations and should not be depended on by individuals to answer all their questions about heritage. An example would be the work geneticists did for a PBS series on African Americans called
African American LivesAfrican American Lives is a PBS television miniseries hosted by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. focusing on African American genealogical research. The family histories of prominent African Americans are explored using traditional genealogic techniques as well as genetic analysis.Gates has written a book...
, it explained that while most African Americans are racially mixed, they found African-Native American admixture relatively rare. However, the Y-chromosome and mtDNA (mitochondrial DNA) testing processes for direct line male and female ancestors can fail to pick up many ancestors' heritage. Some critics thought the PBS series did not sufficiently explain the limitations of DNA testing for assessment of heritage. In addition, genetic markers may appear in other populations and testing cannot distinguish among separate Native American tribes.
Implementation
Many Native American tribes continue to employ blood quantum in their own current tribal laws to determine who is eligible for membership or citizenship in the tribe or Native American nation. These often require a minimum degree of blood relationship and often an ancestor listed in a specific tribal
censusA "census" is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population.In other words every 10 years...next one would be in 2010 The term is used mostly in connection with...
from the late 1800s or early 1900s. The
Eastern Band of Cherokee IndiansThe Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians is a federally recognized Native American tribe in the United States of America. The history of the Eastern Band is synonymous with that of the Qualla Boundary, although the EBCI own, hold, or maintain additional lands in the vicinity, and as far away as 100...
of
North CarolinaNorth Carolina is a state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties...
, for example, require an ancestor listed in the 1924 Baker census and a minimum of 1/16 Cherokee blood inherited from their ancestor(s) on that roll. Meanwhile the Western Cherokee require applicants to descend from an ancestor in the 1906
Dawes rollThe Dawes Rolls were created by the Dawes Commission. The Commission, authorized by United States Congress in 1893, was required to negotiate with the Five Civilized Tribes to convince them to agree to an allotment plan and dissolution of the reservation system...
(direct lineal ancestry), but impose no minimum blood quantum requirement. The
UteThe Ute are an ethnically related group of American Indians now living primarily in Utah and Colorado. There are three Ute tribal reservations: Uintah-Ouray in northeastern Utah ; Southern Ute in Colorado ; and Ute Mountain which primarily lies in Colorado, but extends to Utah and New Mexico...
require a 5/8 blood quantum, the highest requirement of any U.S. tribe, while the
MiccosukeeThe Miccosukee are a Native American tribe living in Florida. They are descendants of the Lower Chiaha, a Muskogee Creek tribe and have had centuries of relations with the Seminole but maintain a separate identity today, largely on linguistic grounds. Unlike the Creek-speaking Seminole, they speak...
of
FloridaFlorida is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the north. It was the 27th state admitted to the United States...
, the
MississippiMississippi is a state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The state's name comes from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, and takes its name from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi . The state is heavily forested outside of the...
ChoctawThe Choctaw are a Native American people originally from the Southeastern United States . They are of the Muskogean linguistic group...
and the St. Croix Chippewa of
WisconsinWisconsin is one of the fifty U.S. states. Located in the north-central United States, Wisconsin is considered part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the...
all require 1/2 "tribal blood quantum." At the other end of the scale, the Mashantucket
PequotSee Main articles:*Mashantucket Pequot*Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation.The Pequot is a tribe of Native Americans who, in the 17th century, inhabited much of what is now Connecticut. They were of the Algonquian language family...
of
ConnecticutConnecticut is a state in the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and New York to the west and south ....
and the Sac and Fox of
OklahomaOklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,617,316 residents in 2007 and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
both require 1/16, whereas the
Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of OregonThe Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon consists of twenty-seven Native American tribes with long historical ties to present-day Western Oregon between the western boundary of the Oregon Coast and the eastern boundary of the Cascade Range, and the northern boundary of...
require a combined minimum of 1/16 from any of a list of several
OregonOregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
indigenous peoples. The
Navajo NationThe Navajo Nation is a semi-autonomous Native American homeland covering about 26,000 square miles , occupying all of northeastern Arizona, the southeastern portion of Utah, and northwestern New Mexico...
requires a 1/4 blood quantum.
Some tribes require an unspecified amount of Indian ancestry (known as "lineal descendancy"), while others yet require a specified degree of Indian ancestry but an unspecified share of ancestry from the ancestral tribe or tribes from which the modern tribal entity is derived. Certain modern tribes are actually composed of confederations of original tribal peoples joined into a single modern ethno-political entity. There are also tribes that require a minimum blood degree only for tribal members born "off" (i.e. outside) the nominal
reservationAn Indian reservation is an area of land managed by a Native American tribe under the United States Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs. Because Native American tribes have limited national sovereignty, laws on tribal lands vary from the surrounding area...
, comparable to the legal principles of
Jus soliJus soli or birthright citizenship, is a right by which nationality or citizenship can be recognised to any individual born in the territory of the related state...
and
Jus sanguinisJus sanguinis is a social policy by which nationality or citizenship is not determined by place of birth, but by having an ancestor who is a national or citizen of the state...
in the
nationality lawNationality law is the branch of law concerned with the questions of nationality and citizenship, and how these statuses are transmitted, acquired, or lost....
s of modern sovereign states. By far the most common blood quantum requirement among modern American Indian tribes today is either 1/4 blood requirement or co-called lineal descendancy.
The following tribes require 1/2 degree blood quantum for membership
- Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida
- Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, Mississippi
- St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin
The St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin are a Federally recognized Indian Tribe, located in northwestern Wisconsin, along the St. Croix River valley and watershed.-History:...
The following tribes require 1/8 degree blood quantum for membership
- Apache Tribe of Oklahoma
- Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Reservation, Oregon
- Fort Sill Apache Tribe of Oklahoma
- Karuk Tribe of California
- Muckleshoot Indian Tribe of the Muckleshoot Reservation, Washington
- Northwestern Band of Shoshoni Nation of Utah (Washakie)
- Sac & Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska
- Squaxin Island Tribe of the Squaxin Island Reservation, Washington
- Suquamish Indian Tribe of the Port Madison Reservation, Washington
- Upper Skagit Indian Tribe of Washington
- Wichita and Affiliated Tribes (Wichita, Keechi, Waco & Tawakonie), Oklahoma
The following tribes require 1/16 degree blood quantum for membership
- Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon
The Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon consists of twenty-seven Native American tribes with long historical ties to present-day Western Oregon between the western boundary of the Oregon Coast and the eastern boundary of the Cascade Range, and the northern boundary of...
- Mashantucket Pequot Tribe of Connecticut
- Sac & Fox Nation, Oklahoma
- Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians of North Carolina
See also
- Kamehameha Schools Admission Policy
- One Drop Rule
External links