The Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Oklahoma has seen an 88 percent in membership after lowering its blood quantum standard.

Membership used to require 1/4th Otoe-Missouria blood. The tribe lowered it to 1/8th in the face of an uncertain future.

"Something had to be done to address the issue, if enrollment requirements stayed unchanged, we would be facing a rapidly dwindling enrollment over the next 20 years or so," Chairman John Shotton told The Native American Times.

The change has led to a boost in the number of minors and young people in the tribe, like Jennifer Kessel, who was the first to enroll under the new requirement. “It meant that I belonged,” Kessel told the paper. “I always knew that I did, but I had been excluded. I was never accepted."

Get the Story:
Tribe reflects on blood quantum enrollment change (The Native American Times 11/8)