Thanks for this reply and the other replies. I appreciate it. I was "whining" a bit I think about putting restrictions on a person's race - I had hoped the government had stopped treating Native peoples this way. Thanks, Sharon ----- Original Message ----- From: "Andre P. Cramblit" <andrekar@ncidc.org> To: <CHOCTAW-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, March 09, 2000 10:01 AM Subject: [CHOCTAW] Re: CHOCTAW-D Digest V00 #55 > CHOCTAW-D-request@rootsweb.com wrote: > > > Subject: [CHOCTAW] Confused about census now!!1 > > Date: Wed, 8 Mar 2000 21:48:48 -0800 > > From: "Sharon" <sharander@home.com> > > To: CHOCTAW-L@rootsweb.com > > > > I was pretty clear from all the discussion regarding how to fill out the census that we DID NOT have to be a tribal MEMBER in order to identify ourselves with our true heritage of American Indian. But the following message doesn't seem to say that - or am I misunderstanding?? This message which Alice says is from the Census Bureau says: > > > > " American Indian or Alaska Native -- A person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America), and who maintains tribal affiliation or community attachment." > > > > Because they use the word "and" this links "American Indian or Alasks Native" to "tribal affiliation or comunity attachment" - meaning that in order to be an American Indian, you must have origins to original peoples AND you must have tribal affiliation or community attachment !!! > > > > I am really confused now - what should we who are Indian but are not tribal members do???. > > > > Sharon > > You do not have to be an enrolled member of the Tribe to participate in the > census. If you consider yourself to be Native then I encourage you to > reflect that in your response. Please refer to the following article: > > Filling in the Census > by Mary Blount, Ph.D., Census Tribal Liaison, Muskogee Creek > > Non federal Indians are not getting the full story on how to enumerate and > be counted as Indian. These are the rules given to Federal Tribes by the > Census Bureau > > To make sure you are counted, follow the steps below. > > Check Indian as the only race listing no other admixture (white, black, > etc.). Enter the name of your tribe using only 19 letters. Check with > tribal officials to ensure everyone in the tribe is using the same tribal > name with same spelling. Be sure that person #1 on the Census lists as > Indian, because everyone in the household will be counted as the same race > as # 1. Pass it on and your people will be counted appropriately. > > There are two forms, short and long. The long form has the added question > about ancestry which asks nationality, i.e. what your parents-grandparents > were. Again, what is filled in is important. > > What I am telling my tribe is to enter " North American " since the race is > already listed as American Indian. > > The coding information is true for all minorities, since how the Census > statisticians deal with the data is the key. Only full bloods of any race > are listed in the primary census reports that are promulgated for national > use. The secondary census report data seldom get wide spread > discrimination; thus, anyone not counted as full blood does not get counted > into program funding which is based upon the primary race count. I know it > sounds complex and it is, since it is essentially a governmental, money > saving device. > -- > > André Cramblit, Operations Director > > The Northern California Indian Development Council ( http://www.ncidc.org ) NCIDC is a non-profit organization that helps meet the social, educational, and economic development needs of American Indian communities. NCIDC operates a fine art gallery and gift boutique featuring the best of American Indian Artist's and their work, with emphasis > placed on the work of the Tribes of N.W. California. (http://www.ncidc.org/gift/gifthome.htm#anchorgift) > > > ==== CHOCTAW Mailing List ==== > Your donations to RootsWeb makes OKGenWeb and this Choctaw list possible. RootsWeb Gen. Data Coop. Box 6798 Frazier Park, CA 93222 > http://www.rootsweb.com/rootsweb/how-to-subscribe.html >