I'm assuming you mean the concept used for natives.
I don't support it but I also don't particularly pass judgment on tribes that still use it - mostly because I don't know their affairs and it's not my place.
My tribe has three separate bands, one of which does not use blood quantum at all, one has a requirement of a minimum of 1/16th, and one has a requirement of 1/4. Due to my experiences I can't necessarily say I'm in favor of no blood quantum requirement at all - doesn't mean I want a blood quantum requirement but I don't necessarily like what our no bq enrollment method has led us to. The Dawes rolls has instances of white people buying their way on to those records and as a result their usually fully white descendants have access to our resources, the ability to be involved in our politics, and cannot be banished. Because there's no blood quantum or cultural involvement requirement we have some very white people (both physically and culturally) involved in our politics. Because there's no cultural requirement there's not particularly an incentive for lower BQ members to be involved in the culture which happens frequently with Cherokee Nation - there's over 400,000 members of our tribe and less than 10% of us speak the language.
I have also heard arguments from our bands about how blood quantum is used to protect them and their resources. Keep in mind that just because someone may fall outside of the blood quantum for these bands does not mean they are ostracized. There are many descendants that are allowed to attend cultural events, live in the community, and socialize freely. There are also tribes that may have a lower blood quantum requirement (or no requirement) for enrollment but a higher one for things such as political positions, housing, land ownership, or per cap (financial payments from the tribe for various reasons depending on history).
HOWEVER as most natives know many of our enrollment records are flawed whether there's a blood quantum - requirement or not. Blood quantum is still flawed because of the time most records were made regarding blood quantum - DNA testing and such was not available, meaning this was guessed! For example, the Dawes roll has the "estimated" blood quantum of the person by the census taker - a white person that would eyeball enrollees and make a guess. This would mean things like that if you were dark and spoke your language, you were full, if you are light and spoke the language? Probably a fourth or half. We have an ancestor that has always been regarded as "fullblood" but you have documented records of him talking about his mother having a Dutch father, making him 3/4 by BQ math. Not only that but at times the enrollment depended on whether your ancestor was in the territory when the enrollment records were taken, if they weren't and were never registered, regardless of your blood, you usually cannot ever enroll.
Blood quantum has also been used politically and maliciously to exclude other tribal members for financial gain - even if a tribe has a blood quantum that doesn't necessarily mean every single person that can be proven to come from that tribe and meet the bq will be allowed to enroll. Having a high blood quantum also does not guarantee a person would act in the best interest of their tribe or attends that culture either (although in my experience one is much more likely to).
I'm in favor of cultural requirements along with ancestry but I still don't feel like that's a full solution. Regarding money, resources, and politics, I don't have a solution either, that's also why I don't pass judgment and understand the tribes attempt to work in their own best interests.
This is such a tired question it lowkey feels like bait
My belief is that BQ isn't really useful of a tool for anything. It's mostly used for dick-measuring nowadays. BQs get very specific and pedantic for how inaccurate they are, which also makes it so that people who likely have more Indigenous DNA don't get to enjoy Indigenous benefits and vice versa. Kind of the same thing OP said above, lol.
Unsolicited opinion aside, I wanted to butt in because the tribes where I live (the greater Seattle area) all have different requirements but maintain healthy numbers. The barrier to entry isn't too high or too low.
Some do have the usual requirements like Sauk-Suiattle who require 1/4 Indian blood & Indian ancestors in the area at the time of the 1942 US census (this census has also led to a complicated disenrollment saga) or the Muckleshoot who only require 1/8 Indian blood & an enrolled parent, but others can be different.
Tulalip requires the birth parents to be both enrolled & residents of the rez for at least a year for the children to be enrolled. Despite Muckleshoot and Tulalip having different requirements they both have comparable membership numbers (but I'm at work so I'm not checking rn)
The tribes here also do allow for enrollment by adoption, but you have to be enrolled in another tribe first. Muckleshoot requires 1/16 Muckleshoot blood, while Suquamish requires 1/4 non-specific Indian blood. You must be voted into the tribes to be adopted because you have to show some sort of real commitment to the community. I think it's really cool and unique and more tribes should implement this
All this to say that BQ is a club of exclusivity and only serves to influence friendships and tribal politics. A Tulalip citizen I'm friends with has a BQ of 63/64 which is practically full-blood, like, this woman is as Indian as it gets. She got her Indian name a while back, her 1/4 niece also got one, and her 1/1 friend got jealous and told all of us she thinks that only full-bloods should get Indian names.
Community involvement, residence, genealogy, etc. are important to implement so that communities can keep healthy numbers without creating genetic, cultural, or identity issues. I think Cherokee Nation did a good thing by eliminating BQ but I think they overcorrected by not implementing other safeguards.
Sorry for the talkathon, your answer just gave me a lot to think about
Arches watercolor paper splints printed with archival inks, acrylic paint, copper foil
"Cherokees made clothing wraps fashioned from feathers for warmth and protection. Surprisingly warm and exceedingly beautiful, they also could represent the mantle of leadership. Chiefs were the only ones allowed to wear turkey feather capes. The case of Worcester v. Georgia, 1832, established the legal principle of “tribal sovereignty”. Justice John Marshall’s decision set the precedent for the US Government to recognize nation-to-nation dealings when negotiating with Indian tribes. This basket is symbolically wrapped with a Chief’s turkey feather cape to illustrate the sovereignty of Indian nations.
Splints on the interior of this piece are printed with a reproduction of Cherokee principal Chief John Ross’s appeal to the Senate and House of Representatives in 1836, regarding the “spurious (fake/bogus) delegations” which supposedly represented the Cherokee in signing the Treaty of New Echota, illegally resulting in the removal of the tribe, i.e. The Trail of Tears. The last sentence of his letter reads “And, therefore, we, the parties to be affected by the result, appeal with confidence to the justice, the magnanimity, the compassion, of your honorable bodies, against the enforcement, on us, of the provisions of a compact, in the formation of which we have had no agency.” Unfortunately, his words did not inspire Congress to reconsider this nefarious scheme and the Cherokee were removed by force to Oklahoma."
Wildfires Blaze Through Pacific Northwest Tribal Lands
It’s hot and dry across the region, making for tinderbox conditions.
Firefighters, pilots and equipment operators are mobilized across much of Indian Country in Washington and Oregon, to rein in wildfires that have endangered many tribal communities.
Amidst the powwow season and canoe journey season festivities, multiple tribes are currently being impacted by wildfires, and homes, livestock, pets, and valuables are in danger of being lost.
As wildfires burn through Native nations in Oregon and Washington, communities across both states have banded together to set up sites to do
Above is an article describing what tribes are currently impacted. There is also a lot of information for WA/OR locals on where to drop off physical donations contained within it. If you are unsure of the current status of drop-off locations, check the official website(s) or Facebook profile(s) of the tribe(s) you wish to donate to.
Official Websites
Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation
Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation
Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation
Financial Donations
Cedar Fund Wildfire Recovery Campaign
Yakama Nation Signal Peak and Ransier Fire Updates
Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs Wildfire Recovery Fund
Wildfires Blaze Through Pacific Northwest Tribal Lands
It’s hot and dry across the region, making for tinderbox conditions.
Firefighters, pilots and equipment operators are mobilized across much of Indian Country in Washington and Oregon, to rein in wildfires that have endangered many tribal communities.
Amidst the powwow season and canoe journey season festivities, multiple tribes are currently being impacted by wildfires, and homes, livestock, pets, and valuables are in danger of being lost.
As wildfires burn through Native nations in Oregon and Washington, communities across both states have banded together to set up sites to do
Above is an article describing what tribes are currently impacted. There is also a lot of information for WA/OR locals on where to drop off physical donations contained within it. If you are unsure of the current status of drop-off locations, check the official website(s) or Facebook profile(s) of the tribe(s) you wish to donate to.
Official Websites
Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation
Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation
Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation
Financial Donations
Cedar Fund Wildfire Recovery Campaign
Yakama Nation Signal Peak and Ransier Fire Updates
Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs Wildfire Recovery Fund
Coiled basketry; incorporating slender leather strips intro successive rows of palm-fibre stitching. Scanned from the book The Craft Heritage of Oman; 2003; Neil Richardson & Marcia Dorr
Unrelated from my last post lol white people learning native cultures pmo because they are so extractive and they never realize it. Asking asking asking but never giving back (medicine, money, physical gifts) and god forbid trying to interact with the culture and its people outside of museums and exhibits. It freaks me out. I saw some dude walking around the cultural center with a thick binder looking at the family trees and it made me feel some sort of way
Hat Island is always frustrating for me to think about because I see it everyday but literally no one knows about it. People from neighboring cities don't even know it has multiple names let alone a native one (č́əč́əsəliʔ) and it speaks to the level of how people on the west coast are divorced from history
yousharknotpass
theartofmadeline
ellievsbear
germansingergirl
areudirty
tangentwithtanner
romaincrisis
