Minnesota Chippewa Tribe Votes to End Blood Requirement for Members

DULUTH, Minn. – The Minnesota Chippewa Tribe has voted to remove a decades-old requirement that members have a minimum of 25% Chippewa blood.

Officials say 65% of voters on a referendum question say the blood quantum requirement should be removed from membership in the six-reservation tribe. The referendum is a guide for tribal leaders who will now decide whether to ask voters to amend the tribe’s constitution.

The majority of voters say each reservation – Fond du Lac, Mille Lacs, Bois Forte, Grand Portage, White Earth and Leech Lake – should be allowed to determine its own enrollment requirements.

The Minnesota Chippewa Tribe (MCT) is the centralized governmental authority for six Chippewa (Ojibwe or Anishinaabe) bands in Minnesota. The tribe was created on June 18, 1934; the organization and its governmental powers are divided between the tribe, and the individual bands, which directly operate their reservations.