Quick Synopsis

A groundbreaking and deeply personal exploration of Tribal enrollment, and what it means to be Native American in the United States.

Publisher’s Synopsis

Who is Indian enough?

To be Native American is to live in a world of contradictions. At the same time that the number of people in the US who claim Native identity has exploded―increasing 85 percent in just ten years―the number of people formally enrolled in Tribes has not. While the federal government recognizes Tribal sovereignty, being a member of a Tribe requires navigating blood quantum laws and rolls that the federal government created with the intention of wiping out Native people altogether. Over two million Native people are tribally enrolled, yet there are Native people who will never be. Native people who, for a variety of reasons ranging from displacement to disconnection, cannot be card-carrying members of their Tribe.

In The Indian Card, Carrie Lowry Schuettpelz grapples with these contradictions. Through in-depth interviews, she shares the stories of people caught in the mire of identity-formation, trying to define themselves outside of bureaucratic processes. With archival research, she pieces together the history of blood quantum and tribal rolls and federal government intrusion on Native identity-making. Reckoning with her own identity―the story of her enrollment and the enrollment of her children―she investigates the cultural, racial, and political dynamics of today’s Tribal identity policing. With this intimate perspective of the ongoing fight for Native sovereignty, The Indian Card sheds light on what it looks like to find a deeper sense of belonging.

Book Review

Since I started reading more about 5 years ago, I have made a conscious effort to read diversely, including books by Native or Indigenous authors. American public schools fail to teach pre-colonial history and culture. And I have taken it upon myself to learn more about Native culture and issues. When I first heard about The Indian Card, I knew it would be an excellent book to build knowledge about current tribal issues.

The Indian Card provides an in-depth look at modern Native identity in the U.S. In this narrative nonfiction book, Carrie Lowry Schuettpelz blends investigative research and personal narratives about the process by which individuals are identified and recognized as “Indians” by individual tribes.

Lowry Schuettpelz has taken the expansive, complex topic of who is able to claim Native heritage and how that process has affected Native communities and tribes and organized it into an interesting, informative, and readable book. Lowry Schuettpelz grounded historical and policy research with personal stories and interviews to provide a complete picture of the topic. And more importantly, the connection between the two inculcates readers with emotional ties to the issue. Consequently, readers are given a glimpse into real peoples’ struggles with Native tribal enrollment and identify—and the fallout of the complicated process and strict parameters embedded with colonialism dating back to 1776.

If you are looking for an opinion about how tribes should handle enrollment, you will not find one in The Indian Card. Instead, Lowry Schuettpelz lays the ground work for you to make a determination based upon a complete understanding of history, facts, and cultural context. Along the way, she also calls out practices that are based upon colonialism and hurt Native people. While the book does not claim to be an exhaustive examination of the issue, it is a great primer for understanding how the practice of tribal enrollment dictates the identity and lives of millions of people with Native heritage.

Because I listened to The Indian Card as an audiobook, it is difficult for me to comment on the book’s writing. I did find it easy to follow and listen to without the issue being oversimplified. I imagine the same can be said for the text.

Overall, The Indian Card is an emotionally impactful examination of how racism and colonization continue to affect who is able to claim their Native identity in America. I highly recommend this book and think it would be great as a nonfiction pairing for books like Fire Exit by Morgan Talty or There, There by Tommy Orange.

Rating

Overall Rating

Writing

Cohesiveness

Storyline