Legal Identity Quiz

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Tribal membership rolls contain names of persons who are legally "full-blood," although blood quantum is based on base rolls on which blood quantum was subjective. On these early rolls, people who were participants in community life often were enrolled as "full blood." Sometimes federal officials added names of people who did not participate in Indian community life. In the Great Lakes region there was extensive intermarriage between ethnic groups before Europeans arrived and extensive intermarriage between Europeans and Indians from the 17th century to the present. But what mattered in terms of cultural identity was the behavior of these individuals. In other words, in the mid-19th century, "blood quantum" was not a factor in cultural identity and early rolls did not identify people in that way. The federal government introduced the concept of blood degree in the late 19th century.

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Behavior and values that reflect Indian cultural identity are not transferred biologically. They are a matter of childhood socialization and personal choice.

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Individuals apply to a tribe for membership in that tribe.

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The federal government does not make payments to individual Indians because they are legally Indian. Checks may be issued to individuals who own land and are leasing it because the federal government as trustee collects lease and royalty money and is supposed to keep an account of it and distribute this income to individual Indian land owners.

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The tribes do not have criminal jurisdiction over crimes involving non-Indians or over "major crimes" (14 offenses) committed by Indians. The federal government usually has jurisdiction. Investigation of those major crimes is handled by the FBI and prosecuted by the U. S. Department of Justice. In 1953 Congress gave Wisconsin and Minnesota (except Red Lake Reservation) criminal jurisdiction on Indian reservations. Since 1953 states have scaled back their exercise of jurisdiction on Indian land. Tribes have criminal jurisdiction over most crimes ("minor offenses") involving Indians.