Who is Native? Who decides?

These are questions that face Kodiak’s Native community every day. The origins of these questions lie in the history of colonization and assimilation perpetrated by Russia and the United States in Kodiak. Fissions of Native Identity investigates these questions and histories by exploring the use of blood quantum, federal policies and their definitions of Native, and the different documents used to identify and regulate the identification of Native individuals. Family photos submitted by Native community members are included to counteract the accepted notion of blood quantum and the stereotypical depictions of Native people in popular culture.

Fissions of Native Identity was proposed by and created with a working group of Native community members.

Fissions of Native Identity was made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom.