Reservation poverty

Allen, South Dakota, on the Pine Ridge Reservation, has the lowest per capita income in the country. The alcohol depo of Whiteclay, Nebraska sold over 4.9 million 12-ounce cans of beer in 2010 almost exclusively to Oglala Lakota from the reservation.[1]

Reservations in the United States, known as Indian reservations, are sovereign Native American territories that are managed by a tribal government in cooperation with the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, a branch of the Department of the Interior, located in Washington, DC. There are 334 reservations in the United States today.[2] As of 2008, almost a third of Native Americans in the United States live on reservations, totaling approximately 700,000 individuals.[3] About half of all Native Americans living on reservations are concentrated on the ten largest reservations.[4]

Reservations vary drastically in their size, population, political economy, culture and traditions. Despite such variation, all reservations share similar histories of colonization, and face similar contemporary challenges. One of these challenges is poverty. In 2010, the poverty rate on US reservations was 28.4 percent, compared with 22 percent among all Native Americans (on and off reservations).[5] The U.S. poverty rate among all groups is much lower, at 12.7 percent as of 2016.[6] In addition to poverty rates, reservations are hindered by education levels significantly lower than the national average.[7] Poor healthcare services, low employment, substandard housing, and deficient economic infrastructure are also persistent problems.[3]

  1. ^ Stephanie Woodward, "Gold Mines in Hell", 100Reporters, February 2012
  2. ^ Tiller, Veronica (2005). Tiller's Guide to Indian Country: Economic Profiles of American Indian Reservations. Albuquerque, NM: BowArrow Publishing Company.
  3. ^ a b Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development (2008). The State of Native Nations: Conditions Under U.S. Policies of Self-Determination. New York: Oxford University Press.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Paisano was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "Facts for Features: Native American and Alaskan Native Heritage Month: November 2011". United States Census Bureau. November 1, 2011. Archived from the original on 2011-11-06. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
  6. ^ Semega, Jessica L; et al. (September 2017). "Income and Poverty in the United States: 2016" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. P60-259.
  7. ^ National Center for Education Statistics (2008). Statistical Trends in the Education of American Indians and Alaska Natives. Washington, DC: US Department of Education.

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