Many people question the credibility of Ward Churchill's claim to be an Indian. In fact there is a general dispute about how Indian ethnic identity should be determined. It is clearly unfortunate that such a debate even has to take place and I don't find it helpful in looking at the overall situtation facing the indiginous population in the United States.

The US Government and legislatures have worked time and again to destroy the "tribes" or Nations going beyond the genocidal aggressions themselves. The Dawes Act (selling most of Oklahoma back to whites because there weren't enough Indians to populate the "enclosures" that were set up)is a prime example of how bourgeois ownership rights set out to destroy native social culture ("Blood Quantum" was the measure there). The most devastating destuction of the "tribes" that I know about is making Indians US Citizens and the urbanization push that brought many people from many Nations together into the urban environment. When two Indians got together and had children, depending on any Nation's "blood quantum" rules, those children may or may not still be able to be part of the "tribes" that their parents came from. Thus, a full blooded "Indian" or "Native-American" could not identify him or herself as a member of a "tribe." Thus the treaty obligations of the US Government to those people no longer existed because they were no longer members of any particular "tribe." Those children went back NO generations--although their parents may well remember where *they* came from. Rather than get free health care through the Bureau of Indian Affairs, those children now had to apply for welfare from their state--just like any other "American citizen."

The American Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1991 was also based on "blood quantum" such that a fairly well known poet (who is a member of a "tribe"--but his wife is not) in Chicago could not register his drama troupe as "Indian" because of a lack of "blood quantum" among the members of the board.

I, personally, am not that familiar with Ward Churchill, per se, it seems to me that his identification with the Indian cause should be at least respected to the extent that he does not damage the cause by lying or otherwise injure its credibility.

There is a need to preserve Indian culture just as there is a need to preserve Jewish culture or any other culture. It seems that some people think that "blood quantum" is the way to do that. I have just demonstrates how some "Indians" are hurt by the insistence that "blood quantum" be a factor in their identities as Indians. But, I'm afraid that the "bourgeoisification" of the earth is something that has to be looked into by those interested in indigenous culture if we are going to be able to find a solution to this problem. The white working class I believe has a gigantic stake in this. I hope Sandman can see my point.