Today, Trump claimed he didn't know that Mullin was Native American,

[strongermessage]

but when he nominated him, in an apparent dig at Elizabeth Warren, he posted on Truth Social that Mullin was the only Native American in the Senate.

[Ritabert]

1. Has Mullin ever proved this? Everybody in OK claims to have Cherokee heritage.

[Blue Full Moon]

2. Bovino also.

[Ritabert]

3. Yes I remember that.

[Ms. Toad]

4. He is a member of the Cherokee Nation.

They permit enrollment based on lineage, no matter how distant. He is, I believe, 1/256 Cherokee, by blood.

I looked it up, since his facial features did not look native to me. (I have a brother who is a member of the Omaha nation, and a brother and sister who should be members of the Oglala nation, but for anglicization of native communities my parents unwittingly participated in.)

[Ritabert]

5. 1/256? Nuff said.

[Ms. Toad]

6. I was off by a generation. He's 1/128.

His maternal great grandfather is the original member from whom he is descended (he was 1/16, by blood).

But - unlike those who claim to be Native Americans without much basis beyond family lore - he is actually an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation.

[Ilikepurple]

8. Yeah, blood degree is a tough topic in Indian Country

As there are many tribal community members that don’t rise to somewhat arbitrary blood quantum requirement, but there is also the reasonable fear that at some point an individual’s blood and social association with the tribe might be so attenuated that it dilutes the ability for the tribe to take care of its members. Each tribe and even the individuals amongst the tribes have competing ideas about what degree of blood should be required or if being a lineal descendant is enough. I believe the latter is about one third of the tribes. Most of the rest require a blood degree of at least 1/16 with many requiring 1/4 or 1/2. This is an ongoing issue as each generation has a greater chance of being left off of the rolls as tribal blood degrees drop. I don’t know Mullin’s personal history, but I don’t trust the person who is an ardent Trump supporter called the Trail of Tears a volunteer walk” to shield Natives from DHS overreach. Maybe he’ll surprise me, but I doubt it.

[Ms. Toad]

11. My sister is caught up in it all.

She was the youngest of 13 or 15 siblings removed from their parents. They were neglected, but probably not severely enough to be permanently removed from their parents aside from being native. The story my parents were told was that all the siblings were abandoned in a grocery store. I've heard different stories more recently - and, given the anglicization of native peoples in that era - I am inclined to believe they were taken from their family rather than the family given assistance and a chance to establish they were fit.

We've known who their (sister and brother) father was since they were adopted (due to getting social security checks on behalf of the father for his children, and some years ago they found their mother and siblings. He was Hispanic. The mother was Oglala Sioux.

The Oglala nation requires lineal descendance. Since that was interrupted by adoption (new birth certificate issued), until her birth mother dies - she can't enroll without her birth mother's consent. (After that there are other ways to establish descendance.) Her birth mother is withholding consent because my sister won't just give her money. My sister has had to block access to her birth mother because of the persistent begging.

Very sad.

[Ilikepurple]

13. That is a tough situation. Establishing membership doesn't ever seem easy, but usually family members will help.

It’s a shame that her mother is holding out for money. I’m sure you or your sister have looked into it, but do you know if the requirement for birth mother consent has been established by precedent or was it a procedural decision by the enrollment committee? I don’t see this requirement in their code or Constitution on preliminary glance. Oglala case law doesn’t seem to have an online presence, but it seems that there could be a way to establish lineage without the birth mother’s consent? Was she born on the Pine Ridge Reservation? They might have an independent record that would corroborate her blood relation to her mother. Have any of the siblings been successfully enrolled? I know tribal bureaucracies can be more difficult to navigate than their law. I have known the enrollment process to take years for some as Tribal records often have gaps but sometimes useful documentation can be found. Often there is more than one path to establishing lineage. I hope she is able to be enrolled at some point.

[Ms. Toad]

14. Precedent, I believe.

It's been a while since I looked into it. I believe she was born on the Pine Ridge Reservation - but records don't connect because adoption wiped out the original birth certificate and replacing it with the one with my parents' names. We have more than is usual because of the father's social security benefits, as well as an aunt who worked with the adoption agency who could find some sealed records. I don't know about the older siblings. My guess is not, since most of them have cut off contact with their biological mother's consent. There are ways to establish descendance (e.g. by other relatives), but not as long as the mother is alive.

[Ilikepurple]

15. Wow, I figured you were on top of it.

Enrollment varies so much from tribe to tribe and even from case to case, if they are unique enough, so I hesitate to profess any expertise other than to recount what I’ve witnessed. If it is based on precedent, I have to assume there was a practical or cultural reason for it. But, since I have encountered administrative decisions that were based more on personal vibes than case law, I had to ask. Thanks for the engagement. I learned a little something.

[malaise]

7. You mean he lied?

Oh my!

[Ilikepurple]

9. Or didn't remember he knew? Or didn't write the original truth social comment?

I’m surprise more attention isn’t given to the sort of haphazard syntax of his social media posts. I don’t have direct access, so only read what is reposted here or online elsewhere, but it seems multiple people and/or AI are involved with his Truth Social posting. I will not use AI nor am I a linguistics expert, but his posts vary so much in form or style, often within the same post, that it seems they are made or at least edited by committee.

[Maru Kitteh]

10. So that was likely auhored by Miller, Harp or Scavino. TSF barely knows what day it is lately.

So yeah, either way, he probably had no idea. Either he never knew, or he forgot.

[struggle4progress]

12. Dude can't tell his ass from a hole in his head