Homelands and Indigenous Identities in a Multiracial Era

Carolyn A. Liebler, University of Minnesota

Although multiple-race responses are often allowed, most interracially married parents report their children as single race. I argue that homelands – physical places with cultural meaning – are an important component of the intergenerational transfer of a single-race identity in multiracial families. I focus my analyses on families with an interracially married American Indian who was living with his or her spouse and child(ren) in 2000. Logistic regression reveals that there is a strong effect of living on or near an American Indian homeland on the child’s chances of being reported as single-race American Indian. This effect remains after accounting for family connections to American Indians and other groups, family and area poverty levels, geographic isolation, and the racial composition of the area. The intergenerational transmission of strong indigenous identities can continue in this multiracial era (as they have for centuries) in the context of culturally meaningful physical places.