‘There is no DNA test to prove you’re Native American’
DNA testing is changing how Native Americans think about tribal membership. Yet anthropologist Kim Tallbear warns that genetic tests are a blunt tool. She tells Linda Geddes why tribal identity is not just a matter of blood ties
You grew up on a Sioux reservation in South Dakota. How did Native Americans view tribal membership back then?
Before the second world war, most Native Americans lived on reservations. Biological children would be enrolled as tribal members, but so would adopted children and spouses, if you were legally married.
But as people moved away to urban areas, tribes started to get more rigorous about documentation. That’s when they also started to move towards only enrolling biological relatives. They were trying to figure out how to maintain the tribal population when everybody was living so far away.
How did they determine which people were legitimate biological relatives?
They started to focus on what’s known as “blood quantum” as a way of counting ancestors who were enrolled as Native American. In most US tribes, you have a specific blood quantum needed for enrolment – often one-quarter. That means you have to be able to show with paper documentation that you have one out of four grandparents who is full blood. Or you might have two grandparents who are half blood – however you can make those fractions work.
Has DNA testing changed things more recently?
I think the root cause of recent changes isn’t DNA testing, but gaming. Because Native American reservations don’t necessarily have to adhere to all of the laws of the states in which they’re located – namely gambling laws – during the 1970s and 80s some tribes started building bingo halls and casinos on their land. In some of the more successful gaming tribes, individual members receive dividends on a monthly basis. In a very few tribes, I’ve heard of payments in excess of $1 million a year. With that kind of money, you are going to get very rigorous DNA testing.
Also, people tend to think any tribe with a casino gives out huge per capita payments, so tribal enrolment directors all over the country are bombarded with applications.
So how do tribes use DNA testing to determine membership?
It depends. The tribe I’m enrolled in does DNA testing to trace parentage, but only on new applicants. However, some tribes will go back and test everybody. Of course, in any population where you do that you’re going to find misattributed paternity. And some tribes dis-enrol descendants: say your biological father is not who you think he is, then you can get dis-enrolled. This has happened in some tribes in the US.
Is this dangerous for tribal identity?
All a parentage test does is say whether your parent is your biological parent or not. I feel that’s dangerous in the long run because there is a conflation going on in people’s minds of parentage testing with genetic-ancestry testing. People think that there’s a DNA test that can prove if somebody is Native American or not. There isn’t.
“People think there is a DNA test to prove you are Native American. There isn’t”
Which members of tribal communities are most affected by the use of DNA tests?
We have a lot of adopted children in our communities. That’s a result of the Indian Child Welfare Act, which gives enrolled tribal members the first right to adopt Native American children. The forcible out-adoption of native children used to be part of US policy, so the Act was a way of keeping children in our communities and close to their culture. I think we should enrol adopted children as well biological children. I would also like to see us go back to enrolling spouses. We should look at it as citizenship. Countries allow for immigration and have laws that deal with naturalisation of new citizens. I think tribes should do that too.
So tribal identity is about culture as well as biology?
I want to be careful with the argument that it’s culture versus biology; it’s also political authority versus biology. We have debates amongst ourselves about whether being Native American is about being a citizen of your tribe – a political designation – or about culture and traditional practice. I tend to come down on the side of political citizenship. It’s true that it’s about much more than blood – culture matters. But our political autonomy matters too, and that helps produce a space in which our cultural traditions can thrive.
Do genetic tests that claim to prove Native American ancestry worry you?
I worry about the way Native American identity gets represented as this purely racial category by some of the companies marketing these tests. The story is so much more complicated than that.
Why do you think the idea of ancestry testing is so seductive?
There’s a great desire by many people in the US to feel like you belong to this land. I recently moved to Texas, and many of the white people I meet say: “I’ve got a Cherokee ancestor.” Lots of non-profit groups have also sprung up calling themselves Cherokee tribes, but they’re more like clubs – they don’t have tribal status in the way that federally recognised tribes do. It’s more like, “Do you identify yourself as Cherokee in your soul and your spirit?” That worries us in a land where we already feel there’s very little understanding about the history of our tribes, our relationships with colonial powers, and the conditions of our lives now.
Has ancestry testing thrown up any surprises?
The Seaconke Wampanoag tribe in Massachusetts is one of the few I know of that have used genetic-ancestry testing. They found they had all this African and European genetic lineage mixed in. However, I think anybody who knows Native American history would not be surprised at the way their DNA test results came out. Native people in that part of the country have been intermarrying with descendants of European and African people since the 1600s. What that shows me is that being a member of a Native American tribe cannot be seen as totally biological.
There’s been a lot of interest in trying to trace the migration of people into the Americas. Why has that been so controversial?
I think there is a suspicion by many Native Americans that scientists, who are largely not Native American, want to turn our history into another immigrant narrative that says “We’re all really immigrants, we’re all equal, you have no special claims to anything.”
There are also traditional people who don’t want to have a molecular narrative of history shoved down their throats. They would prefer to privilege the tribal creation stories that root us in the landscapes we come from.
Given recent insights about the extent of genetic mixing between different groups, do tribes still matter?
I think we need to stop conflating the concept of a tribe with a racial group. I and many of my relatives have non-native fathers, yet we have a strong sense of being Dakota because we were raised within an extended Dakota kin group. We have a particular cultural identity, based in a land that we hold to be sacred. That’s what gives our lives meaning. It’s what makes us who we are.
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Kim Tallbear is an anthropologist at the University of Texas, Austin. She is a member of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, part of the Santee Dakota people in South Dakota. She is the author of Native American DNA: Tribal belonging and the false promise of genetic science (University of Minnesota Press)
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But. . . but. . . but. . . I've got a Cherokee Princess as a g-g-g-g-g-g-g-mother.
Wonder how many times I've heard that???
Interesting read, 1st.
The Cherokee Princess thing is repeated so many times by every person that wants to claim heritage that I've lost count...
BTW, my gggggggg grandmother is Blackfoot/Cree/Metis/Ojibwe/Menominee/Saultaux/ Princess. /s
Here we go again...
What about those of us who were told we are Cherokee or whatever but have no way to prove it due to lack of family ties? My "father" left when I was three, the blood was supposed to have come from him. I'm the only one left...who do I find out from? My family were not church going people so I have nobody to ask. Kavika, you suggested I check one place and when nothing showed up I felt really let down. I'm not looking for any handouts...just something to make me feel like I have a place in this life. I'm not claiming to be a "Princess" and I'm not a "flour child"...I've heard those here before and they both make me cringe.
Any suggestions? Or should I just give up and keep telling everyone I'm a mutt!
Uppy, there are very good census records, available through Ancestry.com, or on a per county basis of lots of states. I learned a lot about their property, when I started doing research.
I, too, am the last of my family, and everyone is dead. Ancestry.com is good, but you have to be careful, and prove someone really is in your tree via several ways, to feel certain they really are... I can get the Bruce family to when they moved here in the 1750's, but can't go backwards from there. I need the name of the ship, and then I could probably go further back. On the German side, someone did all the research in Germany, and once you can get there, it may all be readily and easily available. I can trace Grandma Scherer, my great-great Grandmother Louisa's family, back to the 1600s. The Germans were excellent record keepers, but WWII destroyed a lot. I was lucky in the fact that they were from a small town that didn't get bombed or burned...
On other family records, I was able to view census records, write down names and dates of birth, then go to the county to go through property records. Funny, what you find. There are all kinds of records available. Military service, tax records, etc. Then, you can compare it to the history of the area, and learn even more...
The Mormons have really good records, too. There is all kinds of stuff available, when you start to dig... You'll be amazed!
Good luck to you!
Nahhhh - you're no mutt.
Get some birth/death certificates - if you can - and then work backwards from that.
Ancestry.com/Heritage.com will give you a lot of leads also.
Soooooooooo the childhood blood from cutting my finger, combined with my best friend's (who played the Indian Princess) blood did NOT make me a Princess? I'm bummed, will have extra glass of firewater to drown my disappointment
Great seed 1st! Enjoyed the read. Any chance of honorary Princess status?
Funny!!!
My dear Grandpa told me that his grandma, Nancy, was a Cherokee. He never met her, because she died when his mother was 8 years old. I have her picture somewhere, and naturally, my house is in such a mess, I can't find it. Right now, my house is like an archaeological dig. Our mess, then Mama's mess dumped on top, etc. Another thing I would bet my life upon-- if Grandpa told me this, over and over, then he believed it. He would not have lied to me purposefully about something like this. He may have told me that my goldfish went down to the Ohio River for a swim and never came back, but THIS, he wouldn't have fibbed about.
She was not a princess, just a regular person, but her family moved to Hodgenville, KY in the 1820's, and I found the record of their land purchase. Her father was a white man, so it would be his wife that was the full-blooded Cherokee... He had to have carried the blonde gene in him somewhere. Nancy's husband, my Great-great grandpa Trumbo, served in the Union army, in the 14th KY Calvary. Strangely, while chasing Morgan's raiders, the 14th KY Calvary camped on my other side's great-great Grandpa's land, near New Castle, KY, (Great-great grandpa Bruce). It is possible that they at least saw each other, and maybe met each other, (though doubtful), while they camped on his property. Funnily enough, another great-great grandpa sold horses to the 14th Calvary... (Great-great grandpa Scherer.) Could they have seen each other? Another odd thing, all of my great-great grandpas who raised and sold cattle did so at the Stockyards here in Louisville. Did they see each other? Could they have spoken to one another at the Stockyards? Did they have banking business at the Stockyards Bank? (That's where I bank...)
Can I prove any of this? No. But that is what Grandpa told me, and I've done a lot of research. Grandpa had a nose like the Indian on the Indian-head nickel, but then, so did his German grandpa, (different side of the family), so that's no proof. He tanned well, but was blonde headed. That's no proof-- even though the rest of us freckle, burn, and peel. He told me stories that his mother told him, that she had heard from her mother-- and they are very similar to Indian stories... Again, no proof. All I know is that my Grandpa had integrity, and wasn't the type to lie, and why would he? Because of his times, when he grew up, he didn't necessarily want to claim his Indian heritage, but he adored his mother. When he grew up, he was teased mercilessly for having Indian blood. STILL, no proof.
I bought a DNA test, but never sent it in, and have lost it, somewhere here in the house. I have the chair that Nancy's husband made her, and some of her iron cookware. I wish I could prove something, but it eludes me... That's ok-- it would only be for me. I don't want anything from anybody, and don't wish to take anything from anyone else... I have no desire to harm anyone, but I keep trying to find her... Somewhere... Grandma Scherer, her daughter, loved her and never stopped grieving for her mother, so she had to be a loving person. I feel sure that she was, because when Great great grandpa Trumbo kicked her older brothers out at age 16, for listening to fiddle music, they all moved to Hawesville to be near my Grandma Scherer, their sister, and my great-grandmother. She turned out to be the cornerstone of her family, and of her husband's family. She had a great deal of love and integrity.
I stand beside the Indians. I may not be one, and can't even prove that I have one drop of Indian DNA in me, but I still stand beside the Indians. Perhaps it is Grandma Nancy, or her mother, the Cherokee, who calls to me. Perhaps it is just because I'm hard-headed. No matter, I will be your friend and ally, if you let me.
Heritage is a funny thing... All of us are pieces of other people, here and there, and all of us have a unique spot in the family tree. It is easy for me, as my family has lived in the same state, (albeit all over the same state), since 1806. There are all kinds of records available, but nothing definitive. So, a lot of people in KY claim to be pieces of several different tribes on Indians. There lived here about 200 years ago, in parts of the state, and many of them intermarried with the whites. Not surprising. I don't think that many people want to do anything about it, or want to use it to better their situations, in any way, but they are proud of their Indian heritage. That's a good thing... Annoying as it may be to all y'all-- they are proud to claim a drop of Indian blood, and that says something! Something positive!
"All of us are pieces of other people"
Had my DNA done on Dad's side - so far have over 53,000 links ALL OVER EUROPE. (Don't know a single one of them)
NEAT, 1st!
When you start to get into this, you find a whole tapestry, this little thread winds around this person, and then goes way over to here to wind around another person. I'm related by blood or marriage to 4 KY governors... Not that they would claim me, (or visa versa), but back then, there weren't all that many people in the state, and they had to marry someone... You start to see how you may be someone nice's 7th cousin, twice removed... Then, you start wondering, could they have met each other? And yep, in a lot of cases, they could have! Their lives were intertwined, just as ours are today. Think of all the people you went to school with, all the people you've worked with, all the people you've seen at the grocery store... How did they deal with their times? How did the history of their area affect them? It's pretty fascinating!
My comment re Cherokee princess nor 1st's were meant as an insult to anyone.
The unfortunate situation that exists in the U.S. and Canada that many people with native blood have no way to prove it. This is due to many reasons, one being that it has been kept hidden from them by generations of their family. It was not a good thing to be seen or known to have Indian blood.
Many Indian children were ''adopted'' out to white families and have no knowledge of who they are. This is a very sad situation for many people that deserve to know their heritage.
I know a number of people who are Indian but cannot be tribal members because of the crazy laws the U.S. government has put in place.
My comment was meant for those that claim they have Cherokee blood and know damn well that they don't. This is done many times by people that are in show business, or in the case of some that are professors/teachers in collages through out the U.S.
You have to ask yourself, why is it that most of these people claim Cherokee blood. IMO it's because that is a very well known tribe. There are tribes much larger in number than the Cherokee but movies and books seem to concentrate on the Cherokee people the most.
By people claiming this, they are doing a huge disservice to those that are actually Cherokee but have no way to prove it.
I would suggest that if you believe you have native blood, and can find no record of it, have a DNA test done. The test cannot tell you what tribe/nation that you belong to, but it can tell you if you have native blood.
Only speaking for myself, I wasn't insulted....
My comment re Cherokee princess nor 1st's were meant as an insult to anyone.
The unfortunate situation that exists in the U.S. and Canada that many people with native blood have no way to prove it. This is due to many reasons, one being that it has been kept hidden from them by generations of their family. It was not a good thing to be seen or known to have Indian blood.
Many Indian children were ''adopted'' out to white families and have no knowledge of who they are. This is a very sad situation for many people that deserve to know their heritage.
I know a number of people who are Indian but cannot be tribal members because of the crazy laws the U.S. government has put in place.
My comment was meant for those that claim they have Cherokee blood and know damn well that they don't. This is done many times by people that are in show business, or in the case of some that are professors/teachers in collages through out the U.S.
You have to ask yourself, why is it that most of these people claim Cherokee blood. IMO it's because that is a very well known tribe. There are tribes much larger in number than the Cherokee but movies and books seem to concentrate on the Cherokee people the most.
By people claiming this, they are doing a huge disservice to those that are actually Cherokee but have no way to prove it.
I would suggest that if you believe you have native blood, and can find no record of it, have a DNA test done. The test cannot tell you what tribe/nation that you belong to, but it can tell you if you have native blood.
I recently had a DNA test done during the holiday season. My mother was really anxious to find out my results. My DNA came back Jewish and European but no American Indian. My mother was flabbergasted and was furious with my maternal father (he left when I was around 3 and has since passed away). I spoke with a colleague at work and she explained that the gene wouldn't show up in females. So now my mother is trying to have my brother take the test. I should probably have my sons take it also but just saying I had no idea it would only show up in the male offspring. Have you heard this before?
Pj, it is my understanding that with a Y DNA test on a female cannot follow the paternal side of the family. It has to be done on a male family member. Your son would be the best bet.
Pj, it is my understanding that with a Y DNA test on a female cannot follow the paternal side of the family. It has to be done on a male family member. Your son or brother would be great.
My grandmother traced our ancestry back to 1545 England. 1st one to the colonies landed in Boston in 1636. Have his landing papers from there. Probably had to leave because they were hanging horse thieves and con men back then. I do know the first ones to go West was to Pennsylvania in the early 1700's. And then the rest headed to Kansas area and were homesteading by the very early 1800's.
Guess they must have gotten on well with the Indians there, as I am here now!
LOL, I guess that your relatives did dd. It shows up in you.