Reply to What kind of perks does Indian heritage give you at schools?

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[quote=Anonymous]It is a political classification.  Tribes have the right to determine their own membership.  As a PP mentioned, sometimes that is 1/32, sometimes that is having an ancestor listed on certain membership rolls.  Typically, it is 1/4 "blood quantum."  Sometimes, a person must have been born on the Tribe's reservation to be a member.

To the "1/32 doesn't even look Indian" PP, I assume you mean "look like what I think a Plains Indian circa 1860 looks like," which of course would be a much more accurate and reasonable standard for membership.  Maybe some Tribes will adopt it as a membership criterion.

As to benefits, it is kind of offensive to ask Indians what they "get."  There are some pretty broad misconceptions about about what Indians "get."  I am sure it is far, far less than whatever it is you are imagining.  Some tribal members get large monthly or annual per capita payments from gaming or other tribal revenues (such as oil and gas), but I assure you, this is not the norm.  Tribes are governments and use revenue to provide  services to their members, purchase land, develop economic opportunities, develop environmental and other regulations and run courts; you know, like governments everywhere.

With regard to advantages in higher education, it may provide an admissions advantage in that some schools consider tribal members to add diversity to their student bodies.  Whether and why an educational institution values diversity in its student body is a different topic.  Merely checking the "Native American" box on a form does not confer tribal membership and likely provides little to no benefit to anyone.[/quote]

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