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blood quantum
DCHP-2 (Jun 2016)
Spelling variants:blood-quantum, Blood-Quantum
n. — First Nations, Aboriginal, Law, Adminstration
a concept that ties identity to ancestry, mainly used with respect to Aboriginal people in Canada.
Type: 6. Memorial — Widely discredited ideas about race dating from the nineteenth century linked culture and ancestry, placing the so-called "white races" from northern and western Europe at the top of a hierarchy of supposed civilization, with the "inferior races" below. The Indian Act is based on these assumptions; it made indigenous people wards of the federal government on the grounds that they supposedly required time to become civilized.
When revisions to the Indian Act contained in the 1985 Bill C-31 restored Indian status to many people who had lost it, funding to bands was not increased. Bands were encouraged to formulate their own membership rules, and some used blood quantum as a criterion (see Parliament of Canada reference); the typical percentage for membership is 50 per cent or more (see the 1987 and 1994 quotations). This concept was used to defend crowded reserves from extending services to those without the required blood quantum (see the 1994 and 1995 quotations).
As seen in Chart 1, blood quantum is used outside of Canada and is most prevalent in the US, where it has both legal status and a long history. In the US, it gained currency with specific reference to American Indians after the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) (see ERES, s.v. "blood quantum").
When revisions to the Indian Act contained in the 1985 Bill C-31 restored Indian status to many people who had lost it, funding to bands was not increased. Bands were encouraged to formulate their own membership rules, and some used blood quantum as a criterion (see Parliament of Canada reference); the typical percentage for membership is 50 per cent or more (see the 1987 and 1994 quotations). This concept was used to defend crowded reserves from extending services to those without the required blood quantum (see the 1994 and 1995 quotations).
As seen in Chart 1, blood quantum is used outside of Canada and is most prevalent in the US, where it has both legal status and a long history. In the US, it gained currency with specific reference to American Indians after the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) (see ERES, s.v. "blood quantum").
The concept of blood quantum has supported colonial and racist policies and practices. An outstanding goal is the development of legal and institutional practices that respect the special status of Aboriginal nations without basing this status on discredited ideas of biological difference.
Quotations
1978
There was widespread support for proposals of Indians rights for Indian women. Among the changes would be a blood quantum definition of who is an Indian, and a denial of Indian status to non-Indians who marry natives.
1981
Another factor, he said, is that Indian awareness is increasing. "We're finally awakening to the fact that if we are to continue as a race, that is we're to exist as Indian people in the future, we don't want any more mixed marriages on the reserves. We want the blood-quantum to increase."
1982
Joseph Norton, grand chief of the Mohawk Council of Caughnawaga, has said his council is strongly against mixed marriages, which are diluting the Indian race and "slowly reducing the blood quantum." "Some people here who marry non-Indians will say we're prejudiced and discriminating against them. The fact is they're prejudiced against us when they marry out. They should seriously think about carrying on our race."
1987
Some bands are adopting a 50-per-cent blood quantum rule -- allowing membership for those with 50-per-cent Indian blood -- as part of their local membership codes, Bernard said. Bill C-31 does not spell out the rule, but rather encourages bands to incorporate it into their own local codes, he said.
1994
The biological measurement, or blood quantum as it's known to locals, is the most contentious point of the code. Even some band councillors oppose it. The blood quantum is calculated by tracing a family tree, in some cases as far back as eight generations, to determine the number of non-Indians in a Mohawk's bloodline. The band council confers residency status on anyone who has at least 50-per-cent Mohawk blood.
1995
For example, the membership code adopted in 1981 by the Kahnawake Mohawk band calls for a moratorium on mixed marriages and a "blood quantum" - a measurement to determine the racial purity of a resident. If the band's membership committee determines that a resident has less than 50-per-cent Mohawk blood, that resident will be expelled. In the past five years, some 100 residents have received expulsion notices from the committee, whose stated purpose is to "purify the Mohawk bloodline."
1998
Since the 1950s, [Bill] Reid, who died last week at the age of 78, and his work have been at the fulcrum of all the important discussions about native art and culture. Such has been the volatility of the debate that he, catalyst and irritant, has provided ammunition for all sides. How is a native artist, a Haida artist, defined? By blood quantum, by residence or by commitment? Who has the right to represent a culture? Who decides? And what about the people at the receiving end? Such questions are of the essence of First Nations identity politics.
2008
Kahnewake controls its own membership, having withdrawn from Indian Act rules determining status, and the community still adheres to a variation of the so-called "Blood Quantum" regulations set by the original act to establish membership.
References
- Parliament of Canada • "Indian Status and Band Membership Issues"
- ERES • "Blood Quantum"
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