Indigineity is very complex because it may differ from nation to nation. As native people it is who we claim, that’s a part of our community. Yes, in some cases there are native children taken away from their community and family who get put up for adoption. However, once their real last name is discovered and you do encounter people of your families nation, they will either know your family or know someone who does. I feel as though Ruth Hopkins a Native journalist said it best when she once tweeted “Are you part of an Indigenous culture, or is it merely pure ancestry?”. She went on to say “If it is purely ancestry you are a Native descendant and not an active tribal member”. This is a statement many Native people would agree with.

Unfortunately there are situations where someone for example may be white with one native ancestor but then feel the need to act as a “Native presence” in native politics. They do this willingly understanding they do not nor have ever lived a native experience and they have zero connection to their people. In some cases these descendants will go through great lengths trying to reconnect so much that they begin to try to teach others before learning about their ancestors or peoples’ ways. Being a descendant and reconnecting could seem harmless but there is a point to where it does actually affect Native people.

There are reconnecting descendants who begin to try and file for grants & job positions. These are two major examples on how reconnecting descendants begin to affect the lives of current disadvantaged native people. They begin to try and benefit off a culture, identity, and experience that they were not born with. A good example of this would be the situation of Starr Bennett. Another example would be the uprising of reconnecting Taino on social media.

Who are the Taino people? We are a Maipurean Arawakan tribe and the first people contacted in 1492 by Christopher Columbus. Most people when they hear about our history they think about other natives in North America but we are a nomadic tribe that came from South America and The Caribbean. There are accounts, oral stories, genetic evidence, and migration that our people were in Florida, Pennsylvania, New York, and a new speculation is Georgia. Other eastern band tribes have stories of obtaining tobacco from my people. The word tobacco itself is a Arawakan Taino word. Due to Taino being the first people contacted and having such a complex history it is very easy for descendants to misrepresent us. For many years people would say Taino were extinct but we never were. We were the first tribe to go through paper genocide. In the past our people were more reserved having such a closed community, but we try our best to teach others about our history and culture. One of the biggest issues currently with the Taino identity is you have descendants that begin to teach false information , or old research our people put out. We try to spread awareness so that our people can continue moving forward, however when descendants do this they make us as a community move backwards. Some descendants even go as far as teaching the language that the oppressor tried to document, however in these diaries a lot of them admit not being fluent to the Taino language. Our people had to revitalize the language by studying our cousin tribes and making comparisons to what was documented, in which we found many errors. This is how descendants affect actual native communities.

There is a difference between someone who comes from a tribal community who is restoring lost culture or language, vs a descendant. As Native people there are many of us with endangered language or culture that requires restoring or reconstruction. Many tribes are and were in this position. Many tribes such as the Lumbee, Cherokee, Shinnecock, Taino, and more had to study their cousin tribes to restore language or revive culture that was lost. A lot of eastern band tribes are also bi-racial or tri-racial due to historical events. Despite the need for revitalizing they all have living breathing tribal communities. This is the difference between someone who is a descendant vs an actual tribal member. The descendant is disconnected.

Another point of reference to Native identity is Ruth Hopkins’ piece titled “In The Spirit Of Our Ancestors” on Indian Country. She said:

“ One’s native identity in terms of Tribal membership was not solely based on blood ancestry. Membership was more dependent on one’s adherence to the Tribe’s culture and belief system, speaking the native language, and by being an active part of their society. Tribes adopted members without blood ancestry and absorbed prisoners and captives. Intermarriage between members of various Tribes wasn’t uncommon”. - Ruth Hopkins

The spanish actually introduced blood quantum to Taino and other spanish speaking natives first. However, in central and South America indignity is purely cultural and has nothing to do with blood quantum. Where as in North America blood quantum was constantly enforced. So this is one way indigineity is a little different from north to South America.