American Indian Identity

Citizenship, Membership, and Blood

Se-ah-dom Edmo, jessie Young, Alan Parker

• Publisher: Praeger
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9781440831461
• eBook ISBN: 9798216046189
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Native American Studies
• Index: Social Sciences

This single-volume book contends that reshaping the paradigm of American Indian identity, blood quantum, and racial distinctions can positively impact the future of the Indian community within America and America itself. This academic compendium examines the complexities associated with Indian identity in North America, including the various social, political, and legal issues impacting Indian expression in different periods; the European influence on how self-governing tribal communities define the rights of citizenship within their own communities; and the effect of Indian mascots, Thanksgiving, and other cultural appropriations taking place within American society on the Indian community. The book looks at and proposes solutions to the controversies surrounding the Indian tribal nations and their people. The authors—all leading advocates of Indian progress—argue that tribal governments and communities should reconsider the notion of what comprises Indian identity, and in doing so, they compare and contrast how indigenous people around the world define themselves and their communities. Chapters address complex questions under the discourse of Indian law, history, philosophy, education, political science, anthropology, art, psychology, and civil rights. Topics covered in depth include blood quantum, racial distinctions, First Nations, and tribal citizenship.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Series Foreword by Bruce E. Johansen
• Foreword by Robert J. Miller
• Preface
• Introduction
• 1. Traditional Indian Identity
• 2. Indian Identity and the Role of the Tribal Governments Today
• 3. The Problems of Modern Indian Identity: Intersectionality, the American Dream, the Myth of Scarcity, Disenrollment, and Belonging
• 4. The Rhetoric of Indian Identity
• 5. Mascots and Cultural Appropriation: Effects on Tribal Governments and Identity Development
• 6. Education: Public Schools, Boarding Schools, Indigenous Scholarship, and Ethnic Fraud
• 7. Criminal Law and Indian Identity
• 8. Tribal Citizenship and Indian Identity
• 9. Replace the Paradigm of Tribal Membership with the Paradigm of Tribal Citizenship
• Conclusion: The Journey toward Asserting an Authentic Identity in the Twenty-First Century for American Indian Citizens and Their Tribal Nations
• Index
• About the Author