@macro
I could talk about the intersection of race, colonialism, climate change and current politics all day. Thanks for sharing! Good story!
If you liked that piece you might also enjoy this mess that’s really about using technology to define race in America. It’s a bonkers DNA test deep dive story and a fascinating read.
My Favorite part is from Kim TallBear, who great to follow on Twitter BTW. It sums up the whole Native ancestry conversation that’s been brewing online because of Senator Elizabeth Warren’s debacle.
“It might be all these people have Native American ancestry,” TallBear says. “My question is: Who cares? If there’s a particular ancestor that is close enough you can find living family, then you can do that. If there’s nobody for you to find and no tribal community that’s going to claim you, it doesn’t really mean anything.”
Tribal-enrollment offices do use genetic tests to establish parentage. But ancestry tests are irrelevant for enrollment, despite their growing popularity. “Members of the public have been showing up to tribal-enrollment offices and showing them ancestry DNA tests,” says TallBear. “And they’re like, ‘I don’t know what this is. Who are you trying to link?’”