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State Rep. Paul Wesselhoft has authored a bill eliminating the blood-degree requirement as a qualification to be appointed as the Native American Liaison to the office of Governor of Oklahoma.
Current law states, “Any person appointed to the position of Oklahoma Native American Liaison shall be an American Indian of at least one-fourth blood.”
House Bill 2563, by Wesselhoft, would change the qualification so the law would be revised to read, “Any person appointed to the position of Oklahoma Native American Liaison shall be a member of a federally recognized Indian tribe and shall have valid proof of membership.”
Wesselhoft believes any blood degree requirement in state government jobs is “discriminatory and ultimately destructive.”
“Blood degree is an artificial definition of an Indian fostered by the federal government to ultimately deny their treaty obligations in the future by setting some arbitrary blood percentage,” Wesselhoft said.
Wesselhoft, a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation is also an elected representative in their legislature.
“Most tribes,” he said, “rely on the historic 1893 Dawes Rolls to ascertain membership in a tribal nation. If one is directly related to an Indian listed on the Dawes Rolls, then that person qualifies as an Indian.”
Wesselhoft concluded, “If we allow blood degree to be legal and binding, eventually Indian progeny, through intermarriage, would run out of such a degree of blood to qualify for certain jobs. Additionally, blood degree ultimately denies citizenship in the tribe and citizenship would no longer be afforded to future generations of Native Americans.”
The position of Oklahoma Native American Liaison was created last session to replace the Oklahoma Indian Affairs Commission. The position has not been filled by the governor. Wesselhoft, in the future, plans to author a bill to make the liaison position a cabinet post.
State Rep. Paul Wesselhoft has authored a bill eliminating the blood-degree requirement as a qualification to be appointed as the Native American Liaison to the office of Governor of Oklahoma.
Current law states, “Any person appointed to the position of Oklahoma Native American Liaison shall be an American Indian of at least one-fourth blood.”
House Bill 2563, by Wesselhoft, would change the qualification so the law would be revised to read, “Any person appointed to the position of Oklahoma Native American Liaison shall be a member of a federally recognized Indian tribe and shall have valid proof of membership.”
Wesselhoft believes any blood degree requirement in state government jobs is “discriminatory and ultimately destructive.”
“Blood degree is an artificial definition of an Indian fostered by the federal government to ultimately deny their treaty obligations in the future by setting some arbitrary blood percentage,” Wesselhoft said.
Wesselhoft, a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation is also an elected representative in their legislature.
“Most tribes,” he said, “rely on the historic 1893 Dawes Rolls to ascertain membership in a tribal nation. If one is directly related to an Indian listed on the Dawes Rolls, then that person qualifies as an Indian.”
Wesselhoft concluded, “If we allow blood degree to be legal and binding, eventually Indian progeny, through intermarriage, would run out of such a degree of blood to qualify for certain jobs. Additionally, blood degree ultimately denies citizenship in the tribe and citizenship would no longer be afforded to future generations of Native Americans.”
The position of Oklahoma Native American Liaison was created last session to replace the Oklahoma Indian Affairs Commission. The position has not been filled by the governor. Wesselhoft, in the future, plans to author a bill to make the liaison position a cabinet post.
