Home > News > Headlines

Print   Subscribe

NPR: High intermarriage rates pose tribal membership issues
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Filed Under: National

"Native Americans intermarry at higher rates than any other group in the country, according to U.S. Census data.

For the Eastern Shoshone of Wyoming, you have to be at least one-quarter Native American to be a tribal member. That requirement could mean a loss of both population and identity. And intermarriage can also lead to a loss of federal benefits.

Amanda LeClair met Martin Antonio Diaz when one of LeClair's sorority sisters introduced them three years ago. At the time, LeClair was getting her bachelor's degree at the University of Wyoming and Diaz was working at a local restaurant.

"Well, when Martin first met me he thought I was Mexican; and so he was really like, 'Why don't you speak Spanish?' and I was like, 'I just don't, why are you asking me that?' " says LeClair.

Diaz's family calls Jalisco, Mexico, home. LeClair grew up on Wyoming's Wind River Indian Reservation and is an enrolled Shoshone tribal member. That means she meets the blood requirement to be a Shoshone citizen. After the couple dated for a while, Diaz says things got more serious.

They have discussed marriage, kids and the future, but here's the rub: LeClair is half Shoshone. If she has children with Diaz, their children will be only one-quarter Native American. That's the minimum amount of blood required to be enrolled in the Shoshone tribe. Therefore, if their children marry someone nonnative as well, the grandchildren would technically not be Indians. It's an issue that troubles LeClair."

Get the Story:
Native American Intermarriage Puts Benefits At Risk (NPR 3/31)

Copyright © Indianz.Com