
Paper genocide is the systemic removal of a group of people from historical records, such as
censuses
A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given population, usually displayed in the form of statistics. This term is used ...
, which gives the impression that that group has disappeared or become
extinct
Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...
. A 2023 article published by
Cultural Survival
Cultural Survival (founded 1972) is a nonprofit group based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, which is dedicated to defending the human rights of indigenous peoples.
History
Cultural Survival was founded by anthropologist David Mayb ...
defines the term as "intentional destruction of documents and records related to a particular group of people, usually with the intent of erasing their histories and cultures",
while a 2019 article in ''
National Geographic
''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...
'' characterizes the term thusly: "Paper genocide means that a people can be made to disappear on paper".
The term is often used to refer to government policies regarding
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans (also called American Indians, First Americans, or Indigenous Americans) are the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples of the United States, particularly of the Contiguous United States, lower 48 states and A ...
and the
indigenous peoples of the Caribbean
At the time of first contact between Europe and the Americas, the Indigenous peoples of the Caribbean included the Taíno of the northern Lesser Antilles, most of the Greater Antilles and the Bahamas, the Kalinago of the Lesser Antilles, the Cigua ...
, primarily the
Taíno
The Taíno are the Indigenous peoples of the Caribbean, Indigenous peoples of the Greater Antilles and surrounding islands. At the time of European contact in the late 15th century, they were the principal inhabitants of most of what is now The ...
. According to Cultural Survival, paper genocide can lead to
generational and
historical trauma for the communities affected.
Examples
Taíno and indigenous peoples of the Caribbean
A common example of a paper genocide is that of the
Taíno
The Taíno are the Indigenous peoples of the Caribbean, Indigenous peoples of the Greater Antilles and surrounding islands. At the time of European contact in the late 15th century, they were the principal inhabitants of most of what is now The ...
, an
indigenous peoples of the Caribbean
At the time of first contact between Europe and the Americas, the Indigenous peoples of the Caribbean included the Taíno of the northern Lesser Antilles, most of the Greater Antilles and the Bahamas, the Kalinago of the Lesser Antilles, the Cigua ...
.
Following the
first voyage of Christopher Columbus in 1492, the Taíno population began to significantly decline in the ensuing years, primarily due to
virgin soil epidemics and the enslavement and harsh treatment of the Taíno by
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas
**Spanish cuisine
**Spanish history
**Spanish culture
...
colonizers in such labor-intensive fields as
gold mining
Gold mining is the extraction of gold by mining.
Historically, mining gold from Alluvium, alluvial deposits used manual separation processes, such as gold panning. The expansion of gold mining to ores that are not on the surface has led to mor ...
and the cultivation of
sugarcane
Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...
.
Estimates for the Taíno population on the island of
Hispaniola
Hispaniola (, also ) is an island between Geography of Cuba, Cuba and Geography of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and the second-largest by List of C ...
range from 60,000 to 8 million in 1492, with contemporary writer
Bartolomé de las Casas
Bartolomé de las Casas, Dominican Order, OP ( ; ); 11 November 1484 – 18 July 1566) was a Spanish clergyman, writer, and activist best known for his work as an historian and social reformer. He arrived in Hispaniola as a layman, then became ...
claiming a population of around 3 million.
However, by 1542, this number had declined to around 200.
According to a 2019 article in ''
National Geographic
''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...
'', shortly after a 1565
census
A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
that showed only 200 "
Indians
Indian or Indians may refer to:
Associated with India
* of or related to India
** Indian people
** Indian diaspora
** Languages of India
** Indian English, a dialect of the English language
** Indian cuisine
Associated with indigenous peoples o ...
" living on Hispaniola, the Taíno were declared extinct.
Similarly, on the island of
Puerto Rico
; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...
, where there were an estimated 1 million indigenous people in 1493,
a 1787 census recorded only 2,300 non-
mixed-race
The term multiracial people refers to people who are mixed with two or more
races and the term multi-ethnic people refers to people who are of more than one ethnicities. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mul ...
indigenous people were recorded.
In the next census conducted on Puerto Rico in 1802, no indigenous people were recorded,
and according to ''National Geographic'', historical records after this point indicate that no indigenous people remained in the Caribbean.
Despite the apparent elimination of indigenous peoples from the Caribbean, several historians note that a paper genocide may have obscured the continued existence of groups such as the Taíno.
A 2022 article in the ''
Brown Political Review
The ''Brown Political Review'' (''BPR'') is a quarterly, student-run political magazine and website at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. It covers the politics of regional, domestic and international affairs, the political culture a ...
'' notes that, in Puerto Rico, Spanish
Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
priests, who were responsible for
birth registry
Birth is the act or process of bearing or bringing forth offspring, also referred to in technical contexts as parturition. In mammals, the process is initiated by hormones which cause the muscular walls of the uterus to contract, expelling the f ...
, may have been inclined to classify people with some Taíno ancestry as "
mestizo
( , ; fem. , literally 'mixed person') is a term primarily used to denote people of mixed European and Indigenous ancestry in the former Spanish Empire. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also refer to people who are culturall ...
" or "
mulatto
( , ) is a Race (human categorization), racial classification that refers to people of mixed Sub-Saharan African, African and Ethnic groups in Europe, European ancestry only. When speaking or writing about a singular woman in English, the ...
", in part to diminish the representation of Taíno people on the island.
A 2019 article in ''National Geographic'' also notes possible undercounting of Taíno people due to the classification of people born to Spanish fathers and Taíno mothers.
That same article also mentions that, following the abolition of legal slavery of indigenous peoples of the Americas by the
Spanish monarchy
The monarchy of Spain or Spanish monarchy () is the constitutional form of government of Spain. It consists of a hereditary monarch who reigns as the head of state, being the highest office of the country.
The Spanish monarchy is constitu ...
in 1533, many slaveholders in the Caribbean may have been inclined to simply reclassify their enslaved people as African rather than grant them their
manumission
Manumission, or enfranchisement, is the act of freeing slaves by their owners. Different approaches to manumission were developed, each specific to the time and place of a particular society. Historian Verene Shepherd states that the most wi ...
.
Additionally, according to the magazine, many censuses in
Latin America
Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...
did not provide an option for indigenous peoples, instead requiring respondents to identify as either "
Hispanic
The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
", "
white
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
", "
black
Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...
", or mixed-race.
In Puerto Rico, this practice continued after the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
gained control of the island.
In the early 1990s, descendants of indigenous peoples of the Caribbean began a revival of indigenous cultures and language, including participating in
powwows
A powwow (also pow wow or pow-wow) is a gathering with dances held by many Native American and First Nations communities. Inaugurated in 1923, powwows today are an opportunity for Indigenous people to socialize, dance, sing, and honor their ...
and other festivals,
and openly refuted the historical narrative that indigenous peoples in the region had been eliminated.
In the 2010s, genetic research, including the construction of the genome of a Taíno person who had lived between the 8th and 10th century,
found that a significant population of the current Caribbean population have traces of
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...
from indigenous peoples.
In 2016, 164 Puerto Ricans were tested and all were found to have traces matching the Taíno DNA.
That same year, a National Geographic study indicated that 61 percent of Puerto Ricans have indigenous mitochondrial DNA.
Jorge Estevez, a Taíno activist, said of the results, "It shows that the true story is one of assimilation, certainly, but not total extinction".
In 2020, after options for identifying as "Indian or indigenous" were added to the
United States census
The United States census (plural censuses or census) is a census that is legally mandated by the Constitution of the United States. It takes place every ten years. The first census after the American Revolution was taken in 1790 United States ce ...
for Puerto Rico,
over 92,000 Puerto Ricans identified as such.
Additionally, as of the 2020s, several Taíno
advocacy groups
Advocacy groups, also known as lobby groups, interest groups, special interest groups, pressure groups, or public associations, use various forms of advocacy or lobbying to influence public opinion and ultimately public policy. They play an impor ...
exist, such as the
United Confederation of Taíno People
The United Confederation of Taíno People (UCTP) is an organization based in New York and Puerto Rico, dedicated to the self-determination of people of Taíno and other Caribbean Indigenous descent, as well as the preservation and revival of Taí ...
, the Taíno Jatibonícu Tribe of Boriken, and the Taíno Nation of the Antilles.
Native Americans in the United States
In a 2020 blog for the Law School Survey for Student Engagement at
Indiana University
Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...
,
Vickie Sutton
Vickie Sutton (born 1956) (née Vickie Verbyla) is an American law professor currently on the faculty of Texas Tech University. Since 2014, Sutton has been on the Texas Task Force on Infectious Disease Preparedness and Response.
Life
Sutton gre ...
, a
law professor
A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a legal practition ...
at
Texas Tech University
Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public university, public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship instit ...
and member of the
Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina
The Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina is a state-recognized tribe in North Carolina. The tribe represents Lumbee people. They have federal recognition as a Native American tribe but do not receive the benefits accorded to most other federally-recog ...
, described the "policies of first
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...
and then the United States against the indigenous population in America" as "genocidal", both physically and in paper form.
Regarding the latter, Sutton states that both nations "
liminatedreferences to Native Americans in property records, census records, birth and
death records in a paper genocidal policy".
Difficulties in gaining federal recognition
The paper genocide of Native American tribes can have an impact on gaining federal recognition,
an important aspect of
tribal sovereignty in the United States
Tribal sovereignty in the United States is the concept of the inherent authority of tribe (Native American), Indigenous tribes to govern themselves within the borders of the United States.
The Federal government of the United States, U.S. ...
.
For example, in the state of
Rhode Island
Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...
, the
Narragansett people
The Narragansett people are an Algonquian American Indian tribe from Rhode Island. Today, Narragansett people are enrolled in the federally recognized Narragansett Indian Tribe. They gained federal recognition in 1983.
The tribe was nearly l ...
spent several centuries attempting to gain federal recognition, which was granted in 1983.
Starting in the late 18th century, government officials in the state began to record Narragansett people as "black", "''
colored
''Colored'' (or ''coloured'') is a racial descriptor historically used in the United States during the Jim Crow era to refer to an African American. In many places, it may be considered a slur.
Dictionary definitions
The word ''colored'' wa ...
''", or "''
negro
In the English language, the term ''negro'' (or sometimes ''negress'' for a female) is a term historically used to refer to people of Black people, Black African heritage. The term ''negro'' means the color black in Spanish and Portuguese (from ...
''" on official documents, a practice that was upheld in the 1793
Rhode Island Supreme Court
The Rhode Island Supreme Court is the Supreme court, court of last resort in the U.S. State of Rhode Island. The Court consists of a Chief Justice and four Associate Justices, all selected by the Governor of Rhode Island from candidates vetted by ...
case ''Aldrich v. Hammer''. This was part of an effort by the state to do away with indigenous identity and force
cultural assimilation
Cultural assimilation is the process in which a minority group or culture comes to resemble a society's Dominant culture, majority group or fully adopts the values, behaviors, and beliefs of another group. The melting pot model is based on this ...
onto the Narragansett. In a similar case, the
Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe
The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe (formerly Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Tribal Council, Inc.) is one of two federally recognized tribes of Wampanoag people in Massachusetts. Recognized in 2007, they are headquartered in Mashpee, Massachusetts, Mashpee on ...
of
Massachusetts
Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
began seeking federal recognition in the 1970s, but their efforts were hurt due to inconsistent data from the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
.
It wasn't until 2007 that the tribe became federally recognized.
In 2009, the
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...
ruled in ''
Carcieri v. Salazar'' that the federal government could only hold land in
trust
Trust often refers to:
* Trust (social science), confidence in or dependence on a person or quality
It may also refer to:
Business and law
* Trust (law), a legal relationship in which one person holds property for another's benefit
* Trust (bu ...
for tribes that were federally recognized in 1934, when the
Indian Reorganization Act
The Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) of June 18, 1934, or the Wheeler–Howard Act, was U.S. federal legislation that dealt with the status of American Indians in the United States. It was the centerpiece of what has been often called the "Indian ...
was passed.
Critics have stated that the ruling could have negative consequences on tribes that have gained recognition since then, in some cases because of a lack of adequate historical documentation.
Blood quantum laws
Blood quantum is a system of measuring Native American ancestry based on the ancestry of an individual's parents, such that, for example, a child who is the offspring of a father with a Native American blood quantum level of one-fourth and a mother whose level is one-half would have a blood quantum level of three-eighths.
The system is used by some tribes to determine eligibility for membership, and related concepts have appeared in several treaties between the federal government and tribes, such as in the 1825
Osage Treaty with the
Osage Nation
The Osage Nation ( ) () is a Midwestern Native American nation of the Great Plains. The tribe began in the Ohio and Mississippi river valleys around 1620 A.D along with other groups of its language family, then migrated west in the 17th cen ...
.
The system was further codified by the federal government in acts such as the 1887
Dawes Act
The Dawes Act of 1887 (also known as the General Allotment Act or the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887) regulated land rights on tribal territories within the United States. Named after Senator Henry L. Dawes of Massachusetts, it authorized the P ...
and the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act.
Blood quantum levels for Native Americans can be recorded by the
Bureau of Indian Affairs
The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States List of United States federal agencies, federal agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior, Department of the Interior. It is responsible for im ...
, who issue Certificates of Degree of Indian Blood to individuals that are used in tribal recognition.
Regarding the concept, Jill Doerfler, the head of the
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...
's American Indian and Indigenous Studies Department, said in 2021, "What blood quantum does is
racialize American Indian identity. It is an outside concept used to
disenfranchise
Disfranchisement, also disenfranchisement (which has become more common since 1982) or voter disqualification, is the restriction of suffrage (the right to vote) of a person or group of people, or a practice that has the effect of preventing someo ...
Native people and tribes from their legal and political status. And it’s the best way to eliminate ongoing treaty obligations".
In an article for
Voice of America
Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is an international broadcasting network funded by the federal government of the United States that by law has editorial independence from the government. It is the largest and oldest of the American internation ...
's website entitled "Some Native Americans Fear Blood Quantum is Formula for 'Paper Genocide' " Doerfler further elaborated that the system could be used by the federal government to deprive tribes of land and recognition in what she termed a "paper genocide".
United States censuses
Starting with the
first federal census in 1790, indigenous people were not often recorded.
Between 1790 and 1850, Native Americans were largely excluded from the survey, with a major exception occurring in the
1850 census
The 1850 United States census was the seventh decennial United States Census
Conducted by the Census Office, it determined the resident population of the United States to be 23,191,876—an increase of 35.9 percent over the 17,069,453 persons ...
, when
Puebloans
The Pueblo peoples are Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans in the Southwestern United States who share common agricultural, material, and religious practices. Among the currently inhabited Pueblos, Taos Pueblo, Taos, San Il ...
in the
New Mexico Territory
The Territory of New Mexico was an organized incorporated territory of the United States from September 9, 1850, until January 6, 1912. It was created from the U.S. provisional government of New Mexico, as a result of '' Nuevo México'' becomi ...
were recorded as "Copper".
The
1860 census was the first in which Native Americans living alongside white people and
free people of color
In the context of the history of slavery in the Americas, free people of color (; ) were primarily people of mixed African, European, and Native American descent who were not enslaved. However, the term also applied to people born free who we ...
in the general population were recorded.
Even then, the conductors of the census were instructed to only record "families of Indians who have renounced tribal rule, and who under state or territory laws exercise the rights of citizens".
With the
1880 census, and continuing over the next several censuses, the Census Bureau introduced a rubric for recording the racial identification of Native American respondents, primarily utilizing the blood quantum system, but also allowing some discretion on the part of the surveyor with regards to other factors, such as how the individual is perceived in their community.
The
1890 census
The 1890 United States census was taken beginning June 2, 1890. The census determined the resident population of the United States to be 62,979,766, an increase of 25.5 percent over the 50,189,209 persons enumerated during the 1880 census. The ...
was the first to record both Native Americans living among the general population as well as in tribal communities, but due to a fire that destroyed many of the documents, the
1900 census is typically considered the oldest one to give an inclusive count of the country's Native American population.
The passage of the
Indian Citizenship Act
The Indian Citizenship Act of 1924, (, enacted June 2, 1924) was an Act of the United States Congress that declared Indigenous persons born within the United States are US citizens. Although the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constituti ...
in 1924 affected how indigenous peoples from Latin America who were living in the
Southwestern United States
The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural list of regions of the United States, region of the United States that includes Arizona and New Mexico, along with adjacen ...
were recorded.
As the Census Bureau was concerned that laborers from
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
would attempt to portray themselves as Native Americans, many indigenous people from Latin America were recorded only as Hispanic or
Latino.
Starting with the
1960 census, the Census Bureau allowed for individuals to self-report their race, leading to many mixed-race individuals who may have previously been recorded by surveyors as another race to report themselves as Native American.
Additionally, starting with the
2000 census, respondents could record more than one race, again leading to an increase in mixed-race individuals recording at least one of their races as Native American.
= Continued undercounting
=
A 2019 article published by
Rewire News Group
Rewire News Group (formerly Rewire and RH Reality Check) is a daily United States online news publication focused on reproductive and sexual health from a pro-choice perspective. It also covers issues around racial, environmental, immigration, ...
listed "American Indians and
Alaska Natives
Alaska Natives (also known as Native Alaskans, Alaskan Indians, or Indigenous Alaskans) are the Indigenous peoples of Alaska that encompass a diverse arena of cultural and linguistic groups, including the Iñupiat, Yupik, Aleut, Eyak, Tli ...
" as the most undercounted group in the United States.
According to a report from the Census Bureau, Native Americans living on Indian reservations were undercounted by 12.2 percent in the
1990 census.
This figure declined to 4.9 percent in the
2010 census.
According to the bureau, approximately 26 percent of Native Americans in the United States live in "hard-to-count" census tracts,
and American Indians and Alaska Natives are categorized by the bureau as "hard-to-count populations".
According to Judy Shapiro, a
Native American civil rights
Native American civil rights are the civil rights of Native Americans in the United States. Native Americans are citizens of their respective Native nations as well as of the United States, and those nations are characterized under United Sta ...
attorney, census data is often used by the federal government for "gatekeeping" federal recognition, saying, "Through the federal recognition process, they determine who is Native, who continues to exist, and who they are responsible for
aintaining trusts and treaties.
Racial Integrity Act of 1924
In 1924, the
government of Virginia
The government of Virginia combines the executive, legislative and judicial branches of authority in the Virginia, Commonwealth of Virginia. The current List of governors of Virginia, governor of Virginia is Glenn Youngkin. The Virginia State C ...
enacted the Racial Integrity Act.
The law both prohibited
interracial marriages and codified strict racial distinctions, with all people in the state being recorded as either "white" or "colored".
This meant that all
Native Americans in Virginia were officially categorized alongside black people as "colored", and instances of "Indian" being used on birth certificates issued prior to 1924 were updated to read "colored" instead.
The law was in effect until 1967, when the United States Supreme Court struck it down as
unconstitutional
In constitutional law, constitutionality is said to be the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution; "Webster On Line" the status of a law, a procedure, or an act's accordance with the laws or set forth in the applic ...
in their
landmark case
Landmark court decisions, in present-day common law legal systems, establish precedents that determine a significant new legal principle or concept, or otherwise substantially affect the interpretation of existing law. "Leading case" is commonly u ...
of ''
Loving v. Virginia
''Loving v. Virginia'', 388 U.S. 1 (1967), was a landmark civil rights decision of the U.S. Supreme Court that ruled that the laws banning interracial marriage violate the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment to ...
''.
According to the
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...
, the law's "strict definitions of whiteness and blackness led to a mass
erasure
Erasure may refer to:
Arts and media
* Erasure (duo), an English pop group
* ''Erasure'' (album), 1995, by the British group Erasure
* Erasure poetry, a form of found poetry created by erasing words from an existing text
* ''Erasure'' (novel), ...
of Virginia Indian identity. As a result ... Virginia Indians often have difficulty in proving an unbroken lineage, one of the many requirements to becoming a federally recognized Tribe".
Chief Stephen Adkins of the
Chickahominy Tribe referred to the act as "paper genocide", a sentiment echoed by leaders of other tribes in Virginia,
such as the
Monacan Indian Nation
The Monacan Indian Nation is one of eleven Native American tribes recognized since the late 20th century by the U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia.
In January 2018, the United States Congress passed an act to provide federal recognition as tribe ...
.
In 2018, the United States Congress passed legislation extending federal recognition to six tribes in Virginia whose records had been affected by the law: the Chickahominy, the
Eastern Chickahominy, the Monacan Indian Nation, the
Nansemond Indian Nation, the
Rappahannock Tribe, and the
Upper Mattaponi Tribe
The Mattaponi () tribe is one of only two Virginia Indian tribes in the Commonwealth of Virginia that owns reservation land, which it has held since the colonial era. The larger Mattaponi Indian Tribe lives in King William County on the reser ...
.
In March 2024, on the centennial of the act's passage, leaders from several tribes in Virginia hosted a panel at the
Library of Virginia
The Library of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia, is the library agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia. It serves as the archival agency and the reference library for Virginia's seat of government. The Library is located at 800 East Broad Street, tw ...
to discuss the act and its continued legacy.
Exclusion from statistical studies

In 2020, Sutton wrote about the exclusion of Native Americans from surveys and statistical studies as a form of paper genocide.
As examples of Native American exclusion, Sutton pointed to a 2019 incident in which a spokesperson for the
American Institute of Architects
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C. AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach progr ...
announced during a meeting of the
American Indian Council of Architects and Engineers
The American Indian Council of Architects and Engineers (AICAE) is a non-profit organization that promotes the development of American Indian professionals in the fields of architecture and engineering. The AICAE encourages the training, licensure ...
that they would no longer collect data on Native American architects due to it being such a small group, as well as a decision by ''
The Princeton Review
The Princeton Review is an education services company providing tutoring, test preparation and admission resources for students. It was founded in 1981, and since that time has worked with over 400 million students. Services are delivered by 4, ...
'' to cease collection on data regarding Native American university enrollment.
Additionally, Sutton highlighted a report issued by the NALP Foundation and the Center for Women in Law at the
University of Texas School of Law
The University of Texas School of Law (Texas Law) is the Law school in the United States, law school of the University of Texas at Austin, a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas. According to Texas Law’s American Bar ...
titled "Women of Color: A Study of Law School Experiences" that did not include Native Americans as a distinct group.
While the researchers said in the introduction that the paper "analyzes the experiences reported by women of color by
Asian/
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, Black/
African-American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...
, and Hispanic/Latina students", Native American women were simply included in a catch-all "
women of color
The term "person of color" (: people of color or persons of color; abbreviated POC) is used to describe any person who is not considered "white". In its current meaning, the term originated in, and is associated with, the United States. From th ...
" category.
Speaking of the responsibility of researchers, Sutton wrote:
Chukchansi tribe disenrollment and accusations of "paper genocide"
In 2024, television station
KGPE
KGPE (channel 47) is a television station in Fresno, California, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside NBC affiliate KSEE (channel 24). The two stations share studios on McKinley Avenue in eastern Fres ...
of
Fresno, California
Fresno (; ) is a city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County, California, Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley (California), Central Valley region. It covers a ...
, reported that the
Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians, a tribe that owns and operates the
Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino, had disenrolled several members of the tribe after requesting proof of heritage and
allotment
Allotment may refer to:
* Allotment (Dawes Act), an area of land held by the US Government for the benefit of an individual Native American, under the Dawes Act of 1887
* Allotment (finance), a method by which a company allocates over-subscribed ...
papers.
Several of those who had been disenrolled said that the process was unjust, with Claudia Gonzales, a former member of the
tribal council
A tribal council is an association of First Nations bands in Canada, generally along regional, ethnic or linguistic lines.
An Indian band, usually consisting of one main community, is the fundamental unit of government for First Nations in Can ...
, saying, "If we knew this was coming, then we would have taken precautions and measures to protect the general membership from those few that decided they want to try to create paper genocide".
See also
*
Cultural genocide
Cultural genocide or culturicide is a concept first described by Polish lawyer Raphael Lemkin in 1944, in the same book that coined the term ''genocide''. The destruction of culture was a central component in Lemkin's formulation of genocide ...
*
Genocide of indigenous peoples
The genocide of indigenous peoples, colonial genocide, or settler genocide is the Genocide, elimination of indigenous peoples as a part of the process of colonialism.
According to certain genocide experts, including Raphael Lemkin – the indiv ...
*
Native American name controversy
There is an ongoing discussion about the terminology used by the Indigenous peoples of the Americas to describe themselves, as well as how they prefer to be referred to by others. Preferred terms vary primarily by region and age. As Indigenous ...
*
Racism against Native Americans in the United States
Both during and after the Colonial history of the United States, colonial era in American history, white settlers engaged in prolonged conflicts with Native Americans in the United States, seeking to displace them and seize their lands, resulting ...
*
Social amnesia
Social amnesia is a collective forgetting by a group of people. The concept is often cited in relation to Russell Jacoby's scholarship from the 1970s. Social amnesia can be a result of "forcible repression" of memories, ignorance, changing circums ...
*
Social invisibility
Social invisibility is the condition in which a group of people is separated or systematically ignored by the majority of a society. As a result, those who are marginalized feel neglected or being invisible in the society. It can include disadvan ...
*
*
Forced assimilation
Forced assimilation is the involuntary cultural assimilation of religious or ethnic minority groups, during which they are forced by a government to adopt the language, national identity, norms, mores, customs, traditions, values, mentality ...
*
Identity cleansing
*
Memoricide
* "
Mountain Turks"
*
Tribal disenrollment
In the United States, tribal disenrollment is a process by which a Native American individual loses citizenship or the right to belong within a Native American tribe.
Banishment and ostracization have historically been a means to punish wrong ...
*
Voter caging
References
Sources
*
Further reading
*
*
{{Discrimination
Discrimination
Genocide
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
Racism