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American Indian Outcasts

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Diving Into The White Side

American Indians are soon on the road to extinction due to intermarriage with other ethnicities/ races. Their blood lines will slowly thin out, generation after generation; leaving the American Indian population little to none. The United States federal government established a blood quantum for Native Americans to limit their citizenship and leading them on a road to oblivion. Blood quantum is a sense of pride to older Indians- they believe it is a measurement of a sacred identity.

Non- Natives may ask, “what is blood quantum?”. Blood quantum is a term that determines one's ancestry background. American Indian blood quantum was established in the early 18th century to limit Native Americans citizenship in the …show more content…
During this time half of their children were unable to be enrolled. This process cut their family blood line down, causing those children to be outcasts. They are simply outcasts due to them not being “Indian enough”; having them be treated the same as white people. My point is that if you are birthed from an enrolled member, but are not yourself Native enough to be enrolled. Then you do not count as an Indian in the eyes of the full …show more content…
They have gone through multiple things to prove that they are just as Indian as the enrolled members.

“We have descendants of our own who have a mixture of other Indian tribes who are excluded from enrollment, yet who are practicing our culture traditions. It is my belief they are more deserving of enrollment because they are going to help us survive as an Indian culture.” (Desjarlait)

During this dispute people have been known to order DNA tests to prove their blood quantum or raising their blood lines. They continue to fight with “full blood” to claim their place on the reservation. There are people who are Indians and people who are tribal members, but why not have both? It is the day and age we must accept each other despite our differences in blood

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