You are exactly right. If a more exact count needs to be done on Indians, then forms should be sent to every tribal council in the U.S. At which point all tribal members and their extended families would be contacted ( even those who no longer live on tribal lands), to designate their race and tribe correctly. As this is to determine monies for tribal folk, it seems that it is by their numbers that the funds be ascertained. This push to get all the wannabees and new age folks to declare themselves Indian must have some alterior motives behind it. If not, why not let tribes determine their numbers? As an Indian, I am always amused when I meet folks who have some belief that their is Indian in their family and they have silver and turquoise jewelry on every possible part of their body. They have numerous dream catchers in their vehicles and in their homes, feathers, beads, Indian posters, artifacts, weapons, flags, and sage in abundance. These things speak volumes of that persons insecurity in what they are. Indians dont need these trappings to be seen or identified as Indians. But those folks are going to be the ones racing in droves to check Indian on the census. This act still wont make them Indian, but it will be something that they will proudly photocopy and use to express their Indianess as it is considered a governmental document. Their will be no controlling the masses. As Indian people, we should protect against these sort of acts. I also find it interesting that it seems some tribal folk may be participating in this recruitment. Do they want to increase their funding at all costs. Remember, they may court you now, but they will deny your application tomorrow. Just food for thought. Doug -----Original Message----- From: Thomas F Brown <tombrown@jhu.edu> To: NATIVEAMERICAN-DELMARVA-L@rootsweb.com <NATIVEAMERICAN-DELMARVA-L@rootsweb.com> Date: Tuesday, February 29, 2000 5:12 PM Subject: Re: Info From Oklahoma-Census > >Where does this claim of an Indian undercount originate? What >is the evidence? The Census data I've seen shows that the >Indian population has increased by a huge percentage, something >like 70-80% over the past few Censuses. Most of these would >seem to be wannabes. Isn't the kind of exhortation you're >posting just encouraging more wannabes to enumerate themselves >as Indians? What's the point of that? > > > >============================== >Free Web space. ANY amount. ANY subject. >RootsWeb's Freepages put you in touch with millions. >http://cgi.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/acctform.cgi