Tribal Enrollment
Indian Country Today recently published the first in a series of articles on the controversy of tribal enrollment. Kicking off the series is a discussion about blood quantum and the contrast between individuals that may have the legal quantity of Indian blood to enroll, but do not have the right documents and those individuals with the right documents without necessarily having any further connection.
Tribal enrollment is an incredibly complex and divisive issue. Most Americans are not even familiar that there is no legal definition for an American Indian, but that the standard is to defer to tribal membership; a standard that is not applied for any other race or minority group. US federal government funding contributes to the predicament as, in some cases, tribes have an incentive not to increase their membership. This incentive, however, creates greater problems for American Indians in the long run by weakening their voice. As the article quotes blogger Robert Upham, the enrollment and quantum issues “diminish us and disintegrate our unity as a people.” Putting short-term resources ahead of long-term unity and development jeopardizes the entire race and group of people.
Tribal enrollment is an incredibly complex and divisive issue. Most Americans are not even familiar that there is no legal definition for an American Indian, but that the standard is to defer to tribal membership; a standard that is not applied for any other race or minority group. US federal government funding contributes to the predicament as, in some cases, tribes have an incentive not to increase their membership. This incentive, however, creates greater problems for American Indians in the long run by weakening their voice. As the article quotes blogger Robert Upham, the enrollment and quantum issues “diminish us and disintegrate our unity as a people.” Putting short-term resources ahead of long-term unity and development jeopardizes the entire race and group of people.
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