I need to take a second and describe something just so it can be on record. Having native blood does not make you an Indian. Being a true Native means you feel it inside you. We are a dying breed, but only because people want us to disappear. To stop being a lingering reminder of how truly horrific our experience with the whites has been. I love my white friends and family, but my children will know what it means to be Native. My daughter is not mine by blood, but she is mine in every way that matters. When tribes were all that was in America they reproduced and flourished because they continued to evolve and change in order to to form nations. New clans and tribes were formed and a Navajo may become part of the Cherokee through marriage or adoption.
Now to my point:
Tribes can make people honorary members or ambassadors to the BIA, but they can't get them benefits unless they are of significant blood. I don't care if I am enough Navajo to receive benefits, but to say I am not an Indian because of biology is just ridiculous. I am an American Indian, my children are of my Clan. They are Native American. My wife is from the clan of the whites, but upon marriage to me, she is now also Native. We are a growing nation not a dying one. Don't force us into your box but learn to accept the truth which is you can't forget about us or destroy us. If a single seed in a field is left, it will grow and produce more. We are of the land and as long as the earth stands there is no way we can fade away.
My Clan is strong, my beliefs are strong, my blood may be mixed but my soul is wholly Native!
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