Native American Heritage in the Article “Ancestry in a Drop of Blood” (Essay Sample)

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Ancestry In a Drop of Blood
Identity in American Indian populations has long been a source of contention among legal experts, federal lawmakers, ethnographers, historians, and even Native Americans. Given the special connection, American Indians have with the U. S., their identity has been constantly reframed and revised over the last century and a half. This tendency has placed a significant burden on descriptions for legal purposes and tribal affiliation and on American Indians attempting to self-identify in diverse cultural settings. The fundamental question is whether there is a proper way to identify and define who is an American Indian.
In her article “Ancestry In a Drop of Blood,” Karen Kaplan highlights the plight of Marilyn Vann in trying to prove her Native American heritage. Despite having multiple documents, including birth certificates, land deeds, and photographs showing her family’s life within the tribe, her application to join the Cherokee Nation was declined by the tribal officials. The Basis for Vann’s application rejection was that her father was not listed as Cherokee on the crucial 1907 tribal roll (Kaplan). Instead, her father was listed as Freedmen. After this rejection, Vann resorted to the only method she believed would prove that she indeed had American Indian heritage, DNA testing.
DNA testing is one of the methods that is gaining popularity as a method for proving Indian American Heritage. The technique examines