Cedric Sunray: The 'logic' of what's in and out in Indian Country

Monday, June 11, 2012  

"What and who are the “Ins and Outs” of Indian Country?

Okay, so Elizabeth Warren is out as an Indian academic, but the 1/256 by blood folks I have worked with in academia are in. Johnny Depp is in and the nearly full-blooded Indian kid from southwestern Oklahoma whose 1/16 Comanche ancestry coupled with four or five other tribes is out. Pamunkey and Mattaponi Indians who have lived on their reservations for nearly 20 generations are out, while people whose aunties found a link to an Indian ancestor through Ancestry.com and are now enrolled with a federal tribe are in.

I think I am following the logic here. Fluent speaking 87-year-old Chukchansi Indian Ruby Cordero is out (i.e. disenrolled), while the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma enrolls someone who is 1/4,096 and they are in."

Get the Story:
Elizabeth Warren and the Ins and Outs of Indian Country (Indian Country Today 6/9)