Documenting Descendancy and its Importance
We believe that legitimate descendants have inherent rights to be identified as Indigenous people and the responsibility to protect their traditional homelands. We also believe that when legitimate descendants who are unenrolled are excluded from acknowledgment, it creates opportunities for those who seek to profit off of illegitimate claims to Indigenous identity. Therefore, we have built a tool to allow legitimate descendants to be recognized and engaged in their birthright.​
​
There is rampant fraud in academics, arts, and business related to Indigenous identity. We provide a way to trust that your Indigenous partners have legitimate claims.
​
With a repository of documented descendants who are business owners, contractors, students, artisans, storytellers, workers, etc., we can provide greater visibility for our community members to potential partners while protecting our community from cultural fraud.
First-Contact Tribe Context
First-contact tribes have faced many challenges that other Indigenous communities have not. Due to relationships between African and European kin since the 1600s, these communities have been constantly under assault from racial purity and anti-blackness laws and sentiments. While some tribes have been able to have their sovereign rights reaffirmed this has come at the result of the exclusion of 1000's of legitimate descendants whose ancestors maintained hundreds of years of kinship ties. While many counties have burned records, there is a mountain of evidence through genealogical records, DNA, oral history, marriage patterns, and academic articles supporting the legitimacy of these descendants.
How we determine Descent
There are several ways we determine descent. Most of the criteria are listed here. Most of the tribes rely on who was listed as Indian in the 1900 and 1910 US Federal Census. These records were incomplete for a number of reasons. 1. The enumerator would only include those who met a phenotype agreeable to "Indianness," 2. People not living in the cluster were often not counted, 3. Full siblings were excluded if they did not meet the phenotype or married a black person, 4. Some families chose not to be included, fearing losing status and not wanting to split the family. ​
​
Reverse engineering the US Census records, we include the children, siblings, parents, and grandparents as belonging to the Indigenous community. We also use other census records, such as 1860 and 1870, government records, academic papers, and marriage frequency patterns, to establish not only descent but also kinship patterns and endogamy within the group.
How we Document Descent
Our database consists of ancestors before 1920 who were identified as a specific tribe, as Indian, or who met several overlapping criteria to determine endogamy and social cohesion within a tribal community. These ancestors have an "enrollment" number. Anyone who can trace these individuals back using primary sources will be assigned a descendant number. Anyone who can trace back to these individuals with reasonable certainty will be given a conditional descendant number. Anyone who has an ancestor they believe is the sibling of someone in the database and can provide compelling evidence will be provided a conditional descendant number.
​
When an Individual fills in the descendant form, the tool looks for matches between the ancestor(s) they descend from and the information in the database.
​
*Currently enrolled citizens must only scan a copy of their citizenship card.*
How we use and Protect Data
If you are a business owner, student, artisan, or worker looking for opportunities, being in the database will give you access to opportunities when organizations are looking to work with Indigenous people. Potential projects requesting Indigenous collaboration will be vetted to ensure adequate respect, understanding, and protocols to protect and uplift our community.
​
Your data will be encrypted and will not be shared with anyone without your explicit permission.
