By Santee Ross, University of Montana

Remember when you were a little terror running around? You knew who you were and there was no such thing as an identity crisis. You were native because you just were. Things were so much simpler at that age.

Blood quantum never even crossed your mind. Not just because you didn’t know the definition but being a 1/16 or 1/ 8 of some other tribe didn’t change the fact that you still considered yourself native.

A tribe in California is in the middle of a blood quantum dispute. Pala tribal members are being dis-enrolled for not having enough Pala blood in them.

Natives are no strangers to the bloodline feuds. Many tribes require a certain percentage of blood for a person to be considered an enrolled member of that tribe.

This makes it very difficult for those natives who are often a melting pot of tribes to enroll anywhere. It also becomes a somewhat identity crisis because what tribe do they consider themselves to be?

I can certainly empathize with these individuals. My birth father was full-blooded Yankton Sioux. But my mother is a mix of Hopi and Lakota with some other tribes thrown in for good measure. Then when my mother remarried, I took her new husband as my father and he’s Arapahoe.

My head spins sometimes with all the tribes in my house. I have family in Arizona, Wyoming, South Dakota and North Dakota. This makes dating very difficult for me.

Dating aside, I grew up traveling in between Arizona and South Dakota during the summer to attend different ceremonies. I learned Hopi culture along with Lakota culture.

Often times I see other native people learning the different tribal traditions in their background.

But does my blood quantum have anything to do with learning what songs to sing at sweat? Does my measure of Hopi blood make a difference in the piki making process?

Uh, no, it doesn’t and it shouldn’t because being native isn’t about the amount of Indian blood you have. It’s about how you live your life day to day. It’s the values you carry and the traditions you hold.

Blood quantum didn’t matter when you were little in identifying yourself but it sure becomes a deciding factor when you realize you can get per cap.

Santee Ross (Hopi/Lakota) is from Lander, Wyo.