H.809

Subject: Health; commissioner of health; duties; DNA-HLA testing to identify Native American individuals Statement of purpose: This bill proposes to authorize the commissioner of health to develop standards and procedures for DNA-HLA testing to identify individuals who are Native Americans.

AN ACT RELATING TO DNA TESTING AND NATIVE AMERICANS

It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont:

Sec. 1. 18 V.S.A. § 104(j) is added to read:
(j) The commissioner shall by rule establish standards and procedures for DNA-HLA testing to determine the identity of an individual as a Native American, at the request and the expense of the individual. The results of such testing shall be conclusive proof of the Native American ancestry of the individual.

Response:

Being Indian is not about blood tests and lab samples or supercomputers and databases. Those are things of science. Being Indian, Native American or better yet, being Lakota or Dakota, Abenaki or Creek, Chumash or Tulalip, is not about genetics and technology, it is about our relationship with and among each other. It is about our Relations. No blood test or sample, no lab can provide that -- not at the quest or direction of the state or any other person.