Indian tribes have the authority to determine membership requirements. Many tribes have a blood quantum requirement (i.e., one-fourth) and may have additional requirements relating to residency, place of birth, or enrollment deadlines. The Federal Government generally requires a person to be a member of a federally recognized tribe to be eligible for federal benefits.
Tribal Membership
Each tribe determines who qualifies as a member, and an individual can qualify as a member of more than one tribe. As a result, many of the nearly 5 million U.S. citizens -- or 1.6 percent of the total population -- identified as full- or part-American Indians or Alaska Natives in the most recent U.S. Census Bureau estimate (July 1, 2007), might claim membership in more than one Indian nation.
In general, tribes use the blood-quantum system, the descent system or a combination of the two to determine membership. Tribes also might have residency or other requirements for those who seek membership.
In the blood-quantum system, a prospective member must prove he or she has inherited a certain percentage of "Indian blood" from the tribe he or she wishes to join. The Nez Perce Nation, for example, will grant membership only to those who are "at least one fourth (1/4) degree Nez Perce Indian ancestry born to a member of the Nez Perce Tribe."
The descent system does not set a minimum blood requirement. Instead, prospective members must demonstrate that they are directly descended from a tribal member from a particular time period. The Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, for example, requires that prospective members trace their lineage to at least one person listed on the Dawes Rolls of 1899-1907, the official list of people accepted by the Dawes Commission as members of the Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw and Seminole Indian tribes.
Source: National Indian Gaming Commission
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