Gabe Galanda: Trump administration asks tribes about Indian blood

Late last year the U.S. Department of the Interior began to consider whether Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) agencies should cease issuing Certificates of Degree of Indian Blood (CDIBs). Interior’s idea, if realized, would depopulate and weaken Indian Country.

Indian lawyer Bree Black Horse describes the “federal Indian”: an Indian who is no longer or has never been enrolled by a federally recognized tribe, yet who still qualifies as “Indian” under various federal laws. Any elimination of BIA CDIBs would threaten federal Indian relatives’ existence, as well as the cultural, legal, and financial strength of tribal governments and urban Indian organizations.

https://www.indianz.com/News/2019/05/16/gabe-galanda-trump-administration-asks-t.asp