But seriously. Stereotypical Marlboro campaign man and nomad land-stealing cheiftan are just brand names. The real indians have to have a quarter of indian blood in them. Why? That man who is 3 parts cherokee said so!
I’m talking about the 1/4 rule and what we read about in Reading 4.
Personally, I find this idea both absurd and necessary.
It is absurd because being any smaller of a part indian blood than one quarter , makes you inelligable for rights and privileges as an indian makes my head spin. If they are indian (with proof) then they deserve to be recognized as such, not told they have to fill out more of that Pie chart than a quarter.
However, its also necessary. And it should be quite obvious why. Having people with any amount of indian, be it full blooded or 1/24th , claim that they deserve some kind of benefit, would mean that there is only a meager restitution to be shared, as the government can’t give out ALL its money (FYI they’re too busy lining there own pockets!).
So while there are many definitions of indian and a lot of people making that claim, it still seems that only the most indian ones will get any form of compensation, as ridiculous as that sounds.
FA12-FYE106.01 