CHEROKEE ( TSALAGI ) BLOOD QUANTUM. Blood quantum laws required individuals to identify as belonging to only one tribe, despite their ancestry, some lost multiple tribal memberships, and overall numbers of registered members of many Native American tribes have been reduced. Tribes have established their own criteria for membership. The Cherokee Nation has no blood quantum requirement. However, given the new revenues which many tribes are realizing from gambling casinos and other economic development, some such as the Eastern Band of Cherokee have established more restrictive rules to limit membership. The blood quantum laws have caused problems in Native American families whose members were inaccurately recorded as having differing full or partial descent from particular tribes. In some cases, family members or entire families have been excluded from being enrolled as members of their tribe even when they have no non-Native ancestors. The Eastern Band distributes 50 percent of distributable net revenue of gaming operations to its Tribal members. In 1904 the Eastern Cherokees won a million dollar judgment against the U.S. because of its violations of the treaties of 1835-36 and 1845. The payments were to go to all living persons who had been members of the Cherokee tribe at the time of the treaties, or to their descendants if they were deceased. Over 46,000 people filed claims. The Eastern Band of Cherokee of North Carolina require an ancestor listed in the 1924 Baker census and a minimum of 1/16 Cherokee blood inherited from their ancestor(s) on that roll. Meanwhile the Cherokee Nation requires applicants to descend from an ancestor in the Dawes roll (direct lineal ancestry), but the Cherokee Nation imposes no minimum blood quantum requirement. The United Keetoowah Band requires a minimum 1/4 blood quantum. Many people self-identify on the US Census as Native American but are not eligible for tribal enrollment.
Posted on: Sun, 18 May 2014 19:16:30 +0000
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