Tribal Enrollment Councils: Lessons on Law and Indian Identity

American Indian Identity and Blood Quantum in the 21st Century: A Critical Review

“…This is contrary to the more polemic stance taken by Churchill [3], Jaimes [14], and TallBear [17], who believe the tribes participating in tribal enrollment internalized a racist colonial practice by incorporating blood quantum and were "ubiquitously forced or duped into acceptance of Euro-American racial ideology" [17, page 90]. Harmon [28] believes unless the issue is framed in historically grounded studies, the implication that tribes were "duped" is simply conjecture. Harmon [28] Another study emphasizing a degree of American Indian autonomy contra the claims of the government dictating a racial basis for tribal membership is Trosper's 1976 study of the Flathead reservation in western Montana [30].…”

“…It was during the "allotment period" that official tribal enrollment took form in support of the existing ideology of using blood quantum as a determinant of tribal affiliation [14,17,28]. US courts set a precedent in 1905 in the case of Waldron v. United States [29] that upheld tribal authority to determine enrollment policies.…”

“…Tribal enrollment constitutes a significant element in shaping modern American Indian identity, and as such, attention has been given in the literature to its historical developments [3,14,17,28]. Harmon [28] offers dynamic insight into the complexity of the political process for the creation of tribal enrollment by government officials and Indians residing on the Colville Reservation of northeastern Washington, suggesting a degree of agency for those individuals who had a particular stake in the process.…”

“…Tribal enrollment constitutes a significant element in shaping modern American Indian identity, and as such, attention has been given in the literature to its historical developments [3,14,17,28]. Harmon [28] offers dynamic insight into the complexity of the political process for the creation of tribal enrollment by government officials and Indians residing on the Colville Reservation of northeastern Washington, suggesting a degree of agency for those individuals who had a particular stake in the process. This is contrary to the more polemic stance taken by Churchill [3], Jaimes [14], and TallBear [17], who believe the tribes participating in tribal enrollment internalized a racist colonial practice by incorporating blood quantum and were "ubiquitously forced or duped into acceptance of Euro-American racial ideology" [17, page 90].…”

“…Harmon [28] believes unless the issue is framed in historically grounded studies, the implication that tribes were "duped" is simply conjecture. Harmon [28] Another study emphasizing a degree of American Indian autonomy contra the claims of the government dictating a racial basis for tribal membership is Trosper's 1976 study of the Flathead reservation in western Montana [30]. This author argues that the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes were not coerced into adopting strict blood quantum criteria for group membership; however, the tribes implemented restricted membership criteria in an effort to maintain self-preservation.…”