Gabe Galanda Dispels "Federal Indian Blood Quantum Fiction" in New Book

Gabe Galanda’s essay, “The Federal Indian Blood Quantum Fiction,” was published in a new book this month, “Beyond Blood Quantum: Refusal to Disappear.”

The book is the second volume of “The Great Vanishing Act: Blood Quantum and the Future of Native Nations,” which was published in 2016. In the new book, voices from Indian Country convey the insidious impacts of the Indian Reorganization Act confronting the existential and pragmatic questions facing many Native Nations to determine who is—and who is not—a citizen.

Gabe assails blood quantum as a colonial racial fiction. Here’s the introduction:

Indian blood quantum is a fiction. It is made up. It is fake. It is pretend.[1]  

It began as colonial racial fiction.[2] It morphed into federal legal fiction.[3] It now exists as widespread tribal political fiction.[4]

It is and always has been fictional that certain percentages of “Indian” or other racial blood run through Indigenous people’s veins. Human blood simply cannot be reduced to fractions or decimal points based on racial categorization.[5] That idea lacks “intellectual credibility.”[6]

He urges Native nations to urgently confront and reject the Indian blood quantum fiction and restore culturally appropriate forms of kinship-based criteria for Indigenous national belonging.

Gabe’s latest essay is among a series of scholarly essays he’s published since 2023 about existential challenges facing Indigenous peoples:

• In the Spirit of Vine Deloria, Jr.: Indigenous Kinship Renewal and Relational Sovereignty

• Durability and Duress: Inter-Tribal Kinship and Indian Gaming Capitalism

• Into The Void: Indigenous American Civil Rights

• The Original Peoples Deserve Freedom

Gabe Galanda is an Indigenous rights attorney and the managing lawyer at Galanda Broadman. He has been named to Best Lawyers in America in the fields of Native American Law and Gaming Law from 2007 to 2025, and dubbed a Super Lawyer by his peers from 2013 to 2025.

Footnotes:

[1] C. Matthew Snipp, American Indians: The First of This Land 30 (1989) (“It was, and still is, impossible to designate a person as 3/4 blood quantum without knowing the blood types of his or her parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, and even earlier ancestors.”); Kim Tallbear, Native American DNA 54 (2013) (“Blood fractions are not enumerated based on examinations with laboratory prostheses of blood the fluid or of the genetic material found in cells.”); John H. Moore & Janis E. Campbell, Blood Quantum and Ethnic Intermarriage in the Boas Data Set, 67 Human Biology 499 (1995) (“Blood quantum of course, is only loosely related to real genetic heritage and is based on the fiction that one inherits ‘blood’ equally from the male and female side.”); R.W. Schmidt, American Indian Identity and Blood Quantum in the 21st Century: A Critical Review, 2011 Journal of Anthropology, 3 (2011) (“Using what today would be called pseudoscience to support a racial ideology established through ‘scientific objectivity,’ the physical anthropologists made claims of being able to accurately detect and separate mixed bloods from full bloods.”).

[2] See Paul Spruhan, A Legal History of Blood Quantum in Federal Indian Law to 1935, 51 S.D. L. Rev. 1 (2006). 

[3] See P.N. Limerick, The Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken Past Of The American West 338 (1987) (“Set the blood quantum at one-quarter, hold to it as a rigid definition of Indians, let intermarriage proceed as it had for centuries, and eventually Indians will be defined out of existence. When that happens, the federal government will be freed of its persistent ‘Indian problem.’”); Snipp, supra note 2, at 34 (“Confronted by legal challenges, federal authorities were forced to concede that blood quantum definitions cannot be legally enforced for most purposes. Furthermore, the blood quantum information haphazardly collected in the early rolls is at best unsystematic, if not altogether unreliable.”).

[4] Felix S. Cohen, On The Drafting of Tribal Constitutions 113 (David E. Wilkins ed., 2006); David E. Wilkins & Shelly Hulse Wilkins, Blood quantum and the Mathematics of Ethnocide, in The Great Vanishing Act: Blood Quantum and the Future of Native Nations 210, 220 (Kathleen Ratteree & Norbert Hill eds., 2017) (citing Kirsty Gover, Tribal Constitutionalism 83 (2010)).

[5] See Snipp, supra note 1.

[6] Snipp, supra note 1, at 34.

Ethan Jones Joins Galanda Broadman

Ethan Jones has joined Galanda Broadman PLLC as Of Counsel, where he will focus his practice on litigation and other civil legal services for Tribal governments and their enterprises.

“Ethan has over a decade of experience asserting and defending Tribal sovereignty and Treaty rights,” said Gabe Galanda, the firm’s managing lawyer. “We are thrilled to have Ethan join our team of lawyer warriors.”

Ethan graduated from the University of Washington School of Law in 2013, where he concentrated his studies on federal Indian law and interned with Galanda Broadman.  He also holds a Bachelor of Arts in History with College Honors and a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from the University of Washington.

Ethan joins the firm after serving as Lead Attorney for the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation. As the Yakama Nation’s Lead Attorney, Ethan litigated in tribal, federal, state, administrative, and ADR forums, negotiated complex multi-party agreements, and represented many of Yakama’s economic enterprises.

Galanda Broadman, PLLC, is an Indigenous rights law firm with nine lawyers and offices in Seattle and Yakima, Washington and Bend, Oregon. The firm is dedicated to advancing Tribal Treaty and other sovereign legal rights as well as Indigenous human rights.

UN Lifts Embargo on Unanswered Interventions to Biden State Department, Nooksack Tribe

Today, the United Nations lifted the embargo on companion November 29, 2024 communications to the Biden Administration's State Department and the Nooksack Tribe.

The interventions the day after Thanksgiving described the "forced evictions of seven households who self-identify as Indigenous Nooksack, without due process, and without due consideration for their right to remain,” as “violation[s] of the right to adequate housing, including with regard to affordability and security of tenure, as well as the freedom to choose one’s residence."  

FOIA response information reveals that unlike the UN's Nooksack interventions with the State Department in 2022 and 2023, the Biden Administration did not forward the November 29, 2024 communication to the Interior Department or Secretary Deb Haaland for lead response. Accordingly, the Biden Administration did not respond to the UN before leaving office on January 20, 2025, knowing full well the Trump Administration would or could not respond before a January 28, 2025 UN response deadline. 

Through a January 13, 2025 email from the Nooksack families' counsel to Secretary Haaland, the families "observe[d] the demise of international Indigenous human rights protection and federal Indian civil rights protection in the United States, on [her] watch, the first Indigenous cabinet secretary in history."  

You can read all of the UN's unprecedented human rights communications to the United States and Nooksack Tribe here.

Gabe Galanda is an Indigenous rights attorney and the managing lawyer at Galanda Broadman. He has been named to Best Lawyers in America in the fields of Native American Law and Gaming Law from 2007 to 2024, and dubbed a Super Lawyer by his peers from 2013 to 2024.

NCAI Formed a Tribal Citizenship Protection Task Force to Prepare for This Moment. But Then Killed It.

In November 2020, NCAI formed the Tribal Citizenship Policy and Protection Task Force, by Resolution. 

According to its proposed "Charge," the Task Force was to "[e]valuate and monitor external political and legal threats to Tribal citizenship" and "undertake...work as necessary to help NCAI defend against emerging threats to Tribal citizenship."

Two such threats were the first Trump administration's "treatment of Native Nations as racial groups under Medicaid rules and disregard of Tribal citizenship data as a basis for federal COVID-relief funding."

But within months, the NCAI Executive Board ignored both the Resolution and proposed Charge, essentially killing the Task Force. That is because any effort that remotely touches Indigenous or Tribal human rights, most notably the right to belong, is anathema to NCAI politicians.

Now the Trump administration questions whether Tribal citizens enjoy American birthright citizenship and ICE is reportedly interrogating Tribal citizens in Arizona and New Mexico. 

Imagine if NCAI had undertaken the work over the last four years to help meaningfully defend these and any further assaults on Tribal citizenship and sovereignty. 

Imagine if Indian country writ large was more intentional about Tribal citizenship protection vis-a-vis either Tribal or U.S. constitutional law.  See "The Original Peoples Deserve Freedom" (2024) ("Tribal citizens’ right to belong as Americans is not even protected by the Fourteenth Amendment....Tribal citizens remain exempt from America’s central promise."); "Tribal Nationhood Requires Civil Rights Protection" (2022) ("there is no national tribal organization…that advocates for the universal protection of Indigenous civil rights"). 

Gabe Galanda is an Indigenous rights attorney and the managing lawyer at Galanda Broadman. He has been named to Best Lawyers in America in the fields of Native American Law and Gaming Law from 2007 to 2024, and dubbed a Super Lawyer by his peers from 2013 to 2024.

Legal Assistant/Paralegal Announcement (CLOSED)

Galanda Broadman, PLLC, an Indigenous rights firm with eight lawyers and offices in Seattle, Yakima, and Bend, Oregon, seeks to add a Legal Assistant/Paralegal to our dynamic team.

Our firm represents Tribal governments, businesses, and citizens in critical litigation, industry, and regulatory matters, especially in the areas of Treaty rights, Tribal sovereignty, land rights, cultural property protection, taxation, commerce, gaming, serious/catastrophic personal injury, wrongful death, and human/civil rights.

We seek someone deeply committed to helping our lawyers with Tribal, Indigenous, and civil rights litigation.

We prefer applicants with at least three to five years of experience, but exceptions can be made for exceptional candidates. Proven motion and civil rules practice, if not trial experience, the ability to self-direct, a tremendous work ethic, tenacity, and sound ethics are required.

Qualifications:
- A minimum of 3-5 years of experience as a Legal Assistant, Paralegal, or Legal Secretary
- Excellent proofing and formatting legal documents, pleadings, briefs, and correspondence skills
- Assist with trial preparation, including the organization of exhibits and files.
- Strong understanding of legal terminology and procedures (must understand how to read Court Rules in Tribal, State, and Federal Courts).
- Proficiency in ECF filings in various venues and courts.
- Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail.
- Ability to work independently and collaboratively within a team.
- Microsoft Office Suite and Adobe Acrobat knowledge are required
- Strong written and verbal communication skills.
- Assist with managing attorney calendars, scheduling meetings, and coordinating deadlines.Salary DOE.

Qualified applicants should submit a cover letter, a résumé, and a list of references. Submissions must be directed to Alice Hall, the firm’s Office Manager, at alice@galandabroadman.com.

Applications directed elsewhere will not be considered.

"The gifts of people in our region": Seattle Times Editorial Board Honors Gabe Galanda

On Christmas day, Gabe Galanda was honored by The Seattle Times Editorial Board as a "gift" to our region, in recognition of his advocacy for "people who lost their homes after being disenrolled by the Nooksack Tribe." Gabe’s caricature was included in a David Horsey cartoon.

Believe It: Indigenous Americans Shifted Rightward, Voted Trump

On November 5th, typically Democratic-voting Indigenous people joined those who rejected the liberal worldview of Washington, DC elites. They voted for Donald Trump in significant numbers even though his administration poses an existential threat to Tribal nations.

There were early signs of this rightward shift.

As an August New York Times story explained: “Despite President Biden naming the first Indigenous cabinet secretary, some Indigenous voters said they still felt voiceless in Washington, and ignored by a federal government that they say has inflicted centuries of harm.”

That Indigenous people would express even muted criticism about Deb Haaland, this country’s first Indigenous cabinet Secretary, proved foretelling.

By the end of October, “dozens” of Indigenous people “who spoke to the AP in the final weeks before the election expressed frustration with Democratic-leaning tribal governments…and politicians in Washington, who they say rarely use their seat at the table to push for them.”

As the dust now settles on the election, the New York Times reports “there were shifts to the right in counties with large populations of…Native American residents.” That is consistent with what is being reported from reliably blue greater Seattle-King County:

In King County, the place that moved the most toward Trump compared to 2020 is on the plateau just east of Auburn, in and around the Muckleshoot tribal lands. The core precinct where Muckleshoot tribal headquarters is located shifted nearly 15 points to Trump….

In a post-election briefing, analysts for AAPI Data, a group that monitors Asian American and Pacific Islander trends, said both Asian and Native American voting margins for Democrats have been dropping.

Likewise, Politico reports:

In Montana, the four counties that reported the sharpest shifts to the right had Native American majorities. In South Dakota, all nine counties with Native American majorities shifted rightward. The same trend held true in neighboring North Dakota, where Sioux County — which is 81 percent Native American — showed the biggest rightward shift of any of the state’s 53 counties, at 10 points.

Elsewhere — in states with large or small Native American populations — the story was much the same. New Mexico’s McKinley County, which is 81 percent Native American and home to members of several different tribes, shifted 14 points to the right. Minnesota’s Mahnomen County, which is 43 percent Native American, moved 7 points — the biggest shift of any county in the state.

As Politico explains, “public safety and economic concerns appear to have rated high among many of those [Trump] voters,” especially as “inflation imposed severe hardships on many Native American families.”

These assessments are corroborated by a poll of 865 Indigenous people conducted by Native News Online in collaboration with Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism and Qualtrics.

According to that survey: “Donald Trump received 51% of Native American votes in the presidential election, while Kamala Harris garnered 45% of the votes,” with Indigenous Trump voters citing “inflation (21%), immigration (16%) and jobs/economy (14%) as their primary concerns.”

Only time will tell if these election results signal a rise in Indigenous populism.

It is worrisome that so many Indigenous voters would support a presidential candidate whose party threatens economic, environmental, and cultural harm to Tribal nations. By voting for Trump, those voters may end up in a worse condition by way of their Tribal nations, which will almost certainly face slashed federal program dollars and aggressive mineral extraction from sacred ancestral homelands.

It is also worrisome that the Democratic-Indigenous political media apparatus remains in denial that Donald Trump won Indigenous America in 2024. If influential folks don’t get right, and course correct, it will be Tribal nations who suffer the existential consequences.

Gabe Galanda is an Indigenous rights attorney and the managing lawyer at Galanda Broadman. He has been named to Best Lawyers in America in the fields of Native American Law and Gaming Law from 2007 to 2024, and dubbed a Super Lawyer by his peers from 2013 to 2024.

Indigenous Populism Confronts Federal Indian Elitism

Last Tuesday, the American people roundly rejected federal political elitism. It appears typically Democratic-voting Indigenous people joined those who rejected the liberal worldview of Washington, DC elites.

There were early signs of the Indigenous populism reflected at the polls.

As an August New York Times story explained: “Despite President Biden naming the first Indigenous cabinet secretary, some Indigenous voters said they still felt voiceless in Washington, and ignored by a federal government that they say has inflicted centuries of harm.”

An NPR story, also in August, chronicled Indigenous people’s concerns about Interior Secretary Deb Haaland’s failure to block and tackle on behalf of missing and murdered Indigenous women. “A lot of people are hesitant to criticize her,” NPR explained, but many “say their confidence in her ability to champion Indigenous needs is slipping.”

By the end of October, “dozens” of Indigenous people “who spoke to the AP in the final weeks before the election expressed frustration with Democratic-leaning tribal governments…and politicians in Washington, who they say rarely use their seat at the table to push for them.”

As the dust now settles on the election, the New York Times reports “there were shifts to the right in counties with large populations of…Native American residents.” That is consistent with what is being reported from reliably blue greater Seattle:

In King County, the place that moved the most toward Trump compared to 2020 is on the plateau just east of Auburn, in and around the Muckleshoot tribal lands. The core precinct where Muckleshoot tribal headquarters is located shifted nearly 15 points to Trump….

In a post-election briefing, analysts for AAPI Data, a group that monitors Asian American and Pacific Islander trends, said both Asian and Native American voting margins for Democrats have been dropping.

The through-line of these mainstream election news stories is that ordinary Indigenous people’s needs and fears were not heard by the Biden Democrats and are generally not being heard by DC political elites.

That Indigenous people would express even muted criticism about this country’s first Indigenous cabinet Secretary suggests populism is rising in Indian country.

In my own observation, DC political elites—including so-called DC Indians—increasingly ignore the fundamental rights and basic needs of ordinary Indigenous people.

When’s the last time an everyday Indigenous person testified before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs about an existential individual concern? When’s the last time an Interior Secretary took a meeting with a Tribal human rights victim? 

Ordinary Indigenous people who don’t wield Indian gaming money, or who express Tribal human rights concerns, are denied access to federal law and policy makers.

They don’t get meetings with U.S. officials, no matter who’s in the White House. They aren’t allowed to testify before Congress, no matter which party is in the majority.  They don’t get audiences with DC political elites.

Why? Because there is simply no political or financial incentive to allow ordinary Indigenous people access to the federal political establishment.

There is, however, enormous incentive to allow Tribal gaming politicians and gaming-allied “Tribal sovereignty” advocates federal access. The $42 billion Indian gaming industry is highly incentivizing to folks serving in presidential administrations and on Capitol Hill.

Ordinary Indigenous people simply don’t have the cash needed to compete for federal political attention.

But what ordinary Indigenous people can compete with is their votes, especially in swing states amid an increasingly divided nation.  If DC elites don’t contend with rising Indigenous populism, it may cost them future control of the country—if not their careers.

Gabe Galanda is an Indigenous rights attorney and the managing lawyer at Galanda Broadman. He has been named to Best Lawyers in America in the fields of Native American Law and Gaming Law from 2007 to 2024, and dubbed a Super Lawyer by his peers from 2013 to 2024.

Anthony Broadman Elected to Oregon State Senate

On Tuesday, central Oregon voters elected Anthony Broadman to the Oregon State Senate by an overwhelming margin. 

Anthony is a Galanda Broadman founder and partner, Bend City Councilor, Warm Springs appellate court judge, and legal counsel to Tribal nations throughout the west.

He will continue with Galanda Broadman out of Bend while serving in the Oregon State Senate.

Congratulations, Senator Broadman!

Galanda Broadman Named "Best Firm" in Native American & Gaming Law for Thirteenth Year

Galanda Broadman, PLLC, has been named a “Best Law Firm” by U.S. News - Best Lawyers in the arena of Native American Law and Gaming Law, for the thirteenth year in a row. 

According to U.S. News - Best Lawyers, the firm's national ranking was determined through the firm's overall evaluation, which was derived from a combination of Galanda Broadman’s “clients' impressive feedback” and “the high regard that lawyers in other firms in the same practice area have for [the] firm.” 

Galanda Broadman is dedicated to advancing Tribal legal rights and business interests and defending Indigenous human rights.

The firm, with eight lawyers and offices in Seattle and Yakima, Washington and Bend, Oregon, represents Tribal governments, businesses, and citizens and Indigenous people in critical litigation, business and regulatory matters—especially in matters of Treaty rights, sovereignty, taxation, civil rights, and belonging.