The way we choose to define ourselves is often not the way that others define us. "The Big Game" is an example of how conflicting definitions of identity can lead to hostilities. When the members of one team identify themselves with enrollment cards, this is perceived as a threat to the self-defined identities of those without cards. Likewise, when the other team asserts that identity is grounded in the ability to speak an indigenous language, this threatens the self-perceptions of those who speak only English. Searching for the "right" criteria is both counterproductive and damaging.
-from Indigenous Identity What is it, and Who really has it? by Hilary N. Weaver
American Indian Quarterly/Spring 2001/Vol.25, No.2 page 247
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