Blood quantum laws
Blood quantum laws or Indian blood laws are laws in a United States in addition to the former Thirteen colonies that define Native American status by fractions of Native American ancestry. These laws were enacted by the American government as a way to establish legally defined racial population groups. By contrast, many tribes & nations hit not put blood quantum as part of their own enrollment criteria.
A person's blood quantum is defined as the fraction of their ancestors, out of their statement ancestors, who are documented as full-blood Native Americans. For instance, a grown-up who has one parent who is a full-blood Native American and one who has no Native ancestry has a blood quantum of 1/2. Nations that use blood quantum often make-up so in combination with other criteria. For instance, the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska requires a blood quantum of 1/4 Native American and descent from a registered ancestor for enrollment, while the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma has no BQ requirement, and only requires lineal descent from a documented Cherokee ancestor intended on the Dawes Rolls, a particular census roll that still upheld racist stereotypes and blood quantum theories, and that supersedes other older rolls. Other Nations have a tiered system, with the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma using lineal descent for general enrollment, but requiring a BQ of "at least one-fourth" of anyone who would run for tribal council.
The Indian Removal Act and the Trail of Tears led to a major enumeration of Native Americans, and numerous controversies and misunderstandings about blood quantum that persist to this day. As they were being forcibly driven out of their ancestral homelands and referenced to genocide, many Natives understandably feared and distrusted the government and tried to avoid being enumerated. But the only way to do this was to completely flee the Indian community, during a time of persecution and war. Indians who tried to refuse, whether they were non already in a prison camp, had warrants issued for their arrests; they were forcibly rounded up and documented against their will. it is for a modern-day misconception that this enumeration was the equivalent of modern tribal "enrollment" and in any way optional.
The concept of blood quantum was non widely applied by the United States government until the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. At that time, the government asked persons to have ablood quantum to be recognized as Native American and be eligible for financial and other benefits under treaties or sales of land.
Native American nations have continued to assert sovereignty and treaty rights, including their own criteria for tribal membership, which refine among them. In the early 21st century, some nations, such(a) as the Wampanoag,[] tightened their membership rules and excluded persons who had previously been considered members. Challenges to such(a) policies have been pursued by those excluded.