"Ryan Padraza Comes Last is a full-blooded Indian, Sioux and Cheyenne on his father's side and Assiniboine on his mother's. He will soon receive his Lakota name: "A Rope." (Comes Last raises rodeo horses and always has a rope in his right hand. He likes to call Ryan his "right-hand man.") But despite his traditional roots and his Native heritage, Ryan may be one of the last of the Comes Last line allowed to enroll as a member of the Fort Peck Tribe.

As an adult, Ryan will face a dilemma that is increasingly common in Indian Country. If he marries outside of his tribe -- whether with a non-Native or, say, a full-blooded Chippewa -- his children will have a blood quantum of only three-eighths at Fort Peck. And depending on his children's marital choices, Ryan's grandchildren may not be enrolled at all. The only way Ryan can avoid watering down his Fort Peck blood is to marry within the tribe. But that will not be easy: He's related to many of his fellow members.

Thousands of Native Americans are not enrolled in their tribes because their bloodlines have become diluted over the years, as is happening with the Comes Last family. Even some full-blooded Native Americans lack enough of any one tribe's heritage to qualify for enrollment. And there are many mixed marriages: Studies show that about 60 percent of Native Americans marry outside of their ethnicity, a higher rate than any other group. Demographers predict that by 2080, 92 percent of Native Americans will be more than half non-Native. Already, a new generation is finding it is not "Indian" enough to enroll. Though its members may live on the reservation, participate in tribal ceremonies and even study their ancestral language, they are not eligible for a range of federal and tribal benefits, from subsidized health care and tribal voting rights to job preference and the right to gather eagle feathers. And, on a more intangible note, many simply feel they do not belong.

As more and more children are born with blood that doesn't measure up, tribes across the West are taking a look at their enrollment requirements. In the process, deeper questions -- about culture, about identity, about the future of the tribes -- are coming to the surface. Underlying them all is one with no easy answer: What exactly does it mean to be an Indian?"

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Blood Quantum (High Country News 1/12)