as Indigenous after the disenrollment of many Native individuals. There were not any other laws that provided a definition for what an “Indian” was, which meant the decision of if an individual was “Native enough” was left entirely up to the courts. In the early 1910s the federal government used blood quantum to deny some mixed-race Native Americans land and the requirement was that an individual must possess at least One-quarter Native American blood to receive the lands. These Laws would further support ideal Native American in the eyes of settlers to "uphold white supremacy and dominance" as stated by Maya Harmon in Blood Quantum and the White Gatekeeping of Native American identity Recognition for individuals The United States Census allows citizens to check any ethnicity without requirements of validation. Thus, the census allows individuals to self-identify as Indian, merely by checking the racial category, "Native American/Alaska Native". In 1990, about 1.8 million people self-identified in the census as American Indian. About 60 percent of those, or 1.14 million people, are enrolled in federally recognized tribes. People who self-identify as Indian but are not a part of a federally recognized group often wish to join a recognized tribe. The tribal government, in the absence of some legal obligation which stipulates otherwise, has final jurisdiction over who is a member of the tribe. Holly Reckord, an anthropologist who heads the BIA Branch of Acknowledgment and Recognition, discusses the most common outcome for those who seek membership: "We check and find that they haven't a trace of Indian ancestry, yet they are still totally convinced that they are Indians. Even if you have a trace of Indian blood, why do you want to select that for your identity, and not your Irish or Italian? It's not clear why, but at this point in time, a lot of people want to be Indian." Recently, federally recognized tribes have seen the number of enrolled members increase. In some cases this has been because of a revival of interest in Native American heritage and culture. The number of people who self-identify as Indians has been growing even more rapidly. Hastings Shade, the Cherokee Nation's deputy chief, talks of a Cherokee legend of a white snake that devours Indian land and people. Many generations later, a young Indian learns its ways and drives a stake through its heart. "In the end," the legend concludes, "only Indian