Watchlist: ‘What Makes Someone Native American?: Ep 4. of Crashcourse Native American History’

By Kamiah Koch

Social media/digital journalist

The Grand Ronde Tribal membership voted to amend the Tribal constitution in 2024 to do away with blood quantum and move toward lineal descent. The Tribe began accepting new membership applications Tuesday, June 3.

Serendipitously, a popular education channel on YouTube called CrashCourse released a video a month before, debunking the misconceptions of blood quantum.

Native comedian Che Jim (Navajo and Odawa) hosts a 10-episode series covering various Native American topics. In episode four, he discusses a brief history of blood quantum and federal recognition.

“Before colonization, Tribes often used descent to figure out membership,” Jim said. “If you were descended from someone in the Tribe, adopted or married in, you were welcomed. We kept it chill! But thanks to standards imposed by the U.S. government over the years, things have shifted for many Tribes.”

Jim explains the various methods Tribes now use to determine membership. He says the most wildly used way to figure out enrollment eligibility is through a particular blood quantum.

“About 70% of federally recognized Tribes today require a blood quantum but it’s a controversial way of determining Tribal enrollment,” Jim said.

According to Jim, blood quantum relies on American government records created to “sort” Native Americans who were mixed with European parentage. Jim explains the intention behind measuring “Indian-ness” was that after generations of interracial marriage, there wouldn’t be many people who qualified as Native anymore. Most importantly to the U.S. government, they would not be held to the treaties they signed with Tribes.

As any controversial topic goes, some support blood quantum because they believe it’s the best way at proving lineage and keeping close-knit communities together. Others believe it’s a colonial invention and leaves younger generations outside their ancestor’s community. 

“Some Tribes are taking action, returning to enrollment based on descendancy,” Jim said.

The Grand Ronde Tribe is one of the more recent adopters of this requirement, among others like St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin who voted to remove blood quantum in 2023 and has a photo of their Tribal Council included in the video.

You can watch the entire CrashCourse video now at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxmD-Lone7A.