Identities
Above: George Catlin, North American Indian portfolio (Newberry Library, Ayer 250.45 .C2 1845a). View catalog record
How does an individual prove "Indian identity" legally?
It is proven either by federal certification of blood quantum or by enrollment in a federally recognized tribe. Go to "Legal Identity" for more detail.
Who are the “real” Indians? In the 2000 U. S. Census, 2.5 million Americans self-identified as American Indians and about 1.6 million as “part” Indian. Self-identification does not necessarily mean that a person is an acknowledged member of an Indian community or legally recognized as “Indian.” One way to think about this is to differentiate between cultural and legal identity. Also, individual Indian identity is different from group identity, that is, identity as an Indian tribe.
What has research shown about American concepts of Indian identity and the consequences of those ideas?
Misunderstandings about Indian history and a biased federal recognition process create difficulties for Indian people and their communities. Go to "How We Know" for more detail.
Cultural identity refers to a sense of belonging to a particular group by way of sharing the values of that group and participating in its community life. Indian communities accept individuals as legitimate members, depending on their behavior and usually a biological or social connection with other members of the group. In the Midwest, there are many Native communities culturally defined by ethnicity, that is, a shared understanding of the past and community-held values of at least a general nature.
How are Indian communities distinct from other American communities?
In these communities, people have understandings and attitudes about family, homeland, the natural world, history, social responsibility, and other things that contrast in many ways with ideas about these things in other communities. Go to "Cultural Identity" for more detail.
Cultural identity is not necessarily the same as legal identity. To be legally Indian, one must meet federal criteria, and to be a member of an Indian tribe, one must meet the enrollment criteria of that particular tribe.
This section examines these various ways of being “Indian” and explores how scholarly research illuminates this issue.
