Mailbag Archive

Question:

What percentage Indian do you have to be in order to be a member of a Tribe or Indian Nation?

~Submitted by Sonny S.

Answer:

Every tribe has its own membership criteria; some go on blood quantum, others on descent, but whatever the criteria for “percentage Indian” it is the tribe’s enrollment office that has final say on whether a person may be a member. Anyone can claim Indian heritage, but only the tribe can grant official membership.

Tribal Nations are the only recognized arbiter of belonging to or being a member of a tribe. No other agency or arm of any government has that responsibility, other than the particular tribe to which a person claims to belong.

Here is a list of some tribes that claim blood quantum / percentage Indian requirements:

Question:

What benefits are available to native americans because of their federal tribal status?
~Submitted by Katie D.

Answer:

Indian Affairs, through its government-to-government relationship with federally recognized tribes, carries out the Federal Government’s unique and continuing relationship with and responsibility to tribes and Indian people. Indian Affairs programs support and assist federally recognized tribes in the development of tribal governments, strong economies, and quality programs.

The scope of Indian Affairs programs is extensive and includes a range of services comparable to the programs of state and local government, e.g., education, social services, law enforcement, courts, real estate services, agriculture and range management, and resource protection.

QUESTION:

Do native americans celebrate the 4th of July? 

~Submitted by Betty G.

ANSWER:  
To answer, let’s turn back the pages of time. A reasonable chapter to begin in is July 1776, when the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence and 13 colonies became the United States of America. With the emergence of a nation interested in expanding its territory came the issue of what to do with American Indians. History tells us that as the American non-Indian population increased, the indigenous population greatly decreased, along with their homelands and cultural freedoms.

From the beginning, U.S. government policy contributed to culture and land loss. Keeping our focus on the 4th of July, however, let’s jump to the early 1880s, when Secretary of the Interior Henry Teller developed what has come to be called the Religious Crimes Code—regulations at the heart of the Department of Interior, Office of Indian Affairs, Code of Indian Offenses that prohibited American Indian ceremonial life.

QUESTION:

Question:
I am writting a short story for school about the relationship Sioux Indians had with their horses in 1867. Is there any further information you can provide for me? I’ve read that Sioux Indians thought of curly horses as sacred. Why is this? What type of indian names did the Sioux Indians have? What were medicine men like? What were the Sioux Indians’ villages like? Thank-you for your help.
 ~Submitted by Leah

QUESTION:
Are there any areas in Kentucky that are considered sacred ground?
~Submitted by Brooks D.ANSWER:

Wickliffe Mounds is a prehistoric, Mississippian culture archaeological site located in Ballard County, Kentucky, just outside the town of Wickliffe. Operated today as a State Historical Park, Wickliffe Mounds are about 30 miles west of Paducah, Kentucky on Highways 51-60-62 West, near the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers.

QUESTION:
I am currently writing a science fiction book with a strong apache male as the main character in my book. i chose the white mountain apache because i grew up near the white mountains here in New Hampshire. I need to know the following information:

(1) What is the current langauge used by the peoples of the White Mountain Apache Tribe?

(2) Where may i find a dictionary with english translations of this langauge?

(3) Where may i find a list of male and female Apache names?

(4) If a young male child were to be raised by a traditional Apache grandfather, what kinds of things would the grandfather teach his grandson?

(5)What tradition is used in the naming of Apache children?

~Submitted by Walter

Question:
Hi, I am an Australian woman of aboriginal decent who would dearly love to visit your country to learn more of this beautiful culture, Could you recommend any native American tours or places to visit where i can absorb some of your culture?
~Submitted by Rain C.

Answer:
Hi Rain, I’d suggest attending an authentic native american pow wow. There is a pow wow somewhere almost every weekend of the year, although the summer is the peak pow wow season. …More about pow wows

Question: Can you tell me what cultural and religious significance the pronghorn antelope has for Native Americans in the West? (I know the answer will have to be general but if you have examples from different tribes that would be great!). ~Submitted by Hans S.

QUESTION: Is the earring worn by Russel Means in the role of Chingachgook in the 1992 movie, The Last of the Mohicans, an authentic Mohican design? ~Submitted by Keith H ANSWER: THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS is the second part of a five-book series written by author James Fenimore Cooper called The Leatherstocking Tales. Leatherstocking […]

QUESTION:

I am doing some research on the Muskellunge. Every web site I go to says the word was based on the Ojibwe word Maashkinoozhe and they say Maashkinoozhe means Ugly Pike. That does not make sense because Maash means flower in Ojibwe. I was wondering if you can tell me what the aborigional word for Muskellunge is?
~Submitted by Gary

QUESTION:

I have been searching for information on the significance of Lakota jewelry in the past. I am a teacher and during watching a film on Lewis & Clark, which included some references to the Lakota, some students were very interested in the pictures of the beautiful bear claw necklaces, etc. They wanted to know what the jewelry really meant. So far, I’ve had no luck with internet searches. Can you help?
~Submitted by Jewell S.