The Indian Card - by Carrie Lowry Schuettpelz (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

A groundbreaking and deeply personal exploration of Tribal enrollment, and what it means to be Native American in the United States

"A genre-bending work of reportage, memoir, and history" --The New Yorker

"Candid, unflinching . . . Her thorough excavation of the painful history that gave rise to rigid enrollment policies is a courageous gift to our understanding of contemporary Native life." --The Whiting Foundation Jury

Who is Indian enough?

To be Native American is to live in a world of contradictions. At the same time that the number of people in the US who claim Native identity has exploded--increasing 85 percent in just ten years--the number of people formally enrolled in Tribes has not. While the federal government recognizes Tribal sovereignty, being a member of a Tribe requires navigating blood quantum laws and rolls that the federal government created with the intention of wiping out Native people altogether. Over two million Native people are tribally enrolled, yet there are Native people who will never be. Native people who, for a variety of reasons ranging from displacement to disconnection, cannot be card-carrying members of their Tribe.

In The Indian Card, Carrie Lowry Schuettpelz grapples with these contradictions. Through in-depth interviews, she shares the stories of people caught in the mire of identity-formation, trying to define themselves outside of bureaucratic processes. With archival research, she pieces together the history of blood quantum and tribal rolls and federal government intrusion on Native identity-making. Reckoning with her own identity--the story of her enrollment and the enrollment of her children--she investigates the cultural, racial, and political dynamics of today's Tribal identity policing. With this intimate perspective of the ongoing fight for Native sovereignty, The Indian Card sheds light on what it looks like to find a deeper sense of belonging.

Review Quotes

Carrie Lowry Schuettpelz is a 2023 recipient of the Whiting Creative Nonfiction Grant

"[A] genre-bending work of reportage, memoir, and history...[An] admirably questing, ranging book." --The New Yorker

"The Indian Card amplifies the accounts of many who have been affected by a flawed one-size-fits-all notion of identity... The big questions that drove Carrie Lowry Schuettpelz to examine the data, to seek out individual stories and collective histories, can be only partially answered. The most satisfying explanation may lie in the microcosm she generously shares with readers." --LA Times

"The Indian Card is a candid, unflinching look at the sometimes subtle, sometimes ruthless ways federal policies undermine Indigenous culture and society. Carrie Schuettpelz understands first-hand how official tribal membership rations not only access to benefits such as healthcare and housing stipends, but also an ineffable sense of belonging. Her thorough excavation of the painful history that gave rise to rigid enrollment policies is a courageous gift to our understanding of contemporary Native life."
--The Whiting Foundation Jury's Note

"The Indian Card is all at once an intimate portrait, a sweeping history and a thoughtful examination of tribal identity, Native sovereignty and the quest for belonging."
--WBUR

"Carrie's book is so dang good you need to get two copies: one for you and then the other for a friend. Schuettpelz, with so much research and interviews, shares the stories of people caught in the mire of identity-formation with such ease. The voice is pitch perfect, there is not one wrong word and the content is written with so much grace and elegance and honesty you can't help but finish Schuettpelz's work knowing it will live on for as long as it takes to unravel the many, many contradictions surrounding what it means to Native American today."
--Morgan Talty, author of Fire Exit

"A well researched book for readers who are curious or confused about complex kinship relationships in Native America. Armed with personal experience, interviews, and scholarly data, Carrie Lowry Schuettpelz tackles the political nature of Indigenous identity with clarity and concision."
--Deborah Taffa, author of Whiskey Tender

"Illuminating...An innovative exploration of a thorny issue." --Publishers Weekly, starred review

"A clear and frank analysis of the challenges that define Native selfhood." --Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

Carrie Lowry Schuettpelz is an enrolled member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. She spent seven years working in the Obama Administration on issues of homelessness and Native policy. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Master in Public Policy from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. The Indian Card is her first book.