Love And Blood Quantum

Code Switch

NPR

Society & Culture

4.6 • 14.5K Ratings

🗓️ 3 November 2021

⏱️ 22 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

If you're Native American, there's a good chance that you've thought a lot about blood quantum — a highly controversial measurement of the amount of "Indian blood" you have. It can affect your identity, your relationships and whether or not you — or your children — may become a citizen of your tribe.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hi there, Code Switch correspondent Karen Griegsby-Beat here.
0:03.7	As you may remember from last week's episode, our host, Gene Demby,
0:07.9	recently became a parent. Yay, Gene! So for the next couple of months,
0:13.1	Gene takes some time to get acquainted with his little one.
0:16.0	You'll be hearing a variety of people hosting the show.
0:19.0	There'll be some familiar voices, like me.
0:21.6	There'll be Code Switch play cousins, and you'll be hearing more from
0:25.0	different members of the Code Switch team.
0:27.0	Folks who are usually off-mic and making the show happen behind the scenes.
0:31.1	Gene, along with a new full-time host, will be back in 2022.
0:35.6	In the meanwhile, we're so excited to introduce you to the many voices,
0:39.9	personalities, and perspectives that make Code Switch, Code Switch.
0:44.5	All right, on with the show.
0:49.7	You're listening to Code Switch from MPR. I'm Karen Griegsby-Beat.
0:54.4	It's the first week of Indigenous Heritage Month, and as such,
0:58.2	we want to bring you one of our favorite stories about Indigenous identity in the US.
1:03.0	It's a story about love and belonging and community and blood.
1:12.0	So, to start, a little explanatory comma.
1:16.4	There are more than 500 federally recognized Native American tribes in the United States.
1:22.4	That's 500 sovereign nations, and the citizens of those tribes, those nations,
1:28.0	can get ID cards as proof of their citizenship.
1:31.8	It's a picture ID. It has your name, your date. A lot of times, it includes your blood quantum,
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.