"Remember when you were a little terror running around? You knew who you were and there was no such thing as an identity crisis. You were native because you just were. Things were so much simpler at that age.

Blood quantum never even crossed your mind. Not just because you didn’t know the definition but being a 1/16 or 1/ 8 of some other tribe didn’t change the fact that you still considered yourself native.

A tribe in California is in the middle of a blood quantum dispute. Pala tribal members are being dis-enrolled for not having enough Pala blood in them.

Natives are no strangers to the bloodline feuds. Many tribes require a certain percentage of blood for a person to be considered an enrolled member of that tribe."

Get the Story:
Santee Ross: Blood quantum has little to do with tribal identity (Reznet News 3/22)