In their coauthored article, Kim Tallbear and Deborah A. Bolnick write about a relatively new practice of determining ancestry by employing DNA tests. As of 2004, there are at least fourteen companies that provide Native American DNA tests, reflecting the growing trend of people using this method in order to validate their ancestry (Bolnick, Tallbear). In their article, the two scientists discuss several negative implications of these tests as well as their harmful effects on Native American tribes.
The one prevailing motivation for taking these tests seems to be their supposed power to validate people’s ethnic identity and thus make them eligible for Native American rights and certain privileges, like ethnicity-specific scholarships and race-based admissions (Bolnick, Tallbear). The people who manage to secure this genetic validation and the companies that enable them to do so are the ones who profit. However, actual Native American tribes stand to lose a lot from this practice. Up until recently, Native American rights have been determined by legal criteria concerned with tribal sovereignty and cultural ties. Science threatens to upset these notions by putting genetic factors as determiners for what it means to be a Native American.
What makes the issue at hand even more complicated is the dubious result a lot of these tests can have. According to Tallbear and Bolnick, DNA tests often fail to reveal Native American ancestry in people who have Native American ancestors and vice versa. As the article explains, only 1% of the taker’s DNA is examined by these tests and ancestry is revealed solely by looking at one maternal or paternal ancestor, depending on the test (Bolnick, Tallbear). This is not the only way in which these tests prove to be unreliable. They can also detect Native American ancestry in individuals who don’t have any Native American ancestors. Because the tests operate by using genetic markers common in Native Americans as ethnic determiners, individuals who possess these markers may falsely be identified as Native Americans. The problem here is that the genetic markers DNA tests look for are most common in Native Americans but not exclusive to them, as they can be found in other demographic populations.
Tallbear and Bolnick conclude by posing a question concerned with the meaning of ethnic identity. Up until recently, Native Americans were identified as such by referring to the concepts of tribal citizenship, acculturation and biological ancestry. The growing importance and trend of genetic self validation threatens to undermine the tribal understanding of what it means to be a Native American.
Works Cited
TallBear, Kim, and Deborah A. Bolnick. "“Native American DNA” Tests: What Are the
Risks to Tribes?" “Native American DNA” Tests: What Are the Risks to Tribes? (n.d.): n. pag. Web. 26 Apr. 2016.
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