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What were some of the challenges of living on an Indian reservation?
Many households are overcrowded and earn only social security, disability or veteran’s income. The scarcity of jobs and lack of economic opportunity mean that, depending on the reservation, four to eight out of ten adults on reservations are unemployed.
Can anybody live on an Indian reservation?
Must all American Indians and Alaska Natives live on reservations? No. American Indians and Alaska Natives live and work anywhere in the United States (and the world) just as other citizens do. American Indian and Alaska Native population now live away from their tribal lands.
How many natives live off reservations?
22 percent of American Indians and Alaska Natives live on reservations or other trust lands. 60 percent of American Indians and Alaska Natives live in metropolitan areas; this is the lowest metropolitan percentage of any minority population.
Is there a lot of crime on Indian reservations?
Violent crime rates over all on Native American reservations are 2.5 times the national average while some individual reservations reach 20 times the national average of violent crime.
What was life like for the Indians on the reservations?
Life on Indian Reservations Daily living on the reservations was hard at best. Not only had tribes lost their native lands, but it was almost impossible to maintain their culture and traditions inside a confined area. Feuding tribes were often thrown together and Indians who were once hunters struggled to become farmers.
Why did the US create the Indian reservations?
In 1851, Congress passed the Indian Appropriations Act which created the Indian reservation system and provided funds to move Indian tribes onto farming reservations and hopefully keep them under control. Indians were not allowed to leave the reservations without permission. Daily living on the reservations was hard at best.
What was life like for the Lakota Indians?
Despite the area’s history of oppression, the culture and respect running through the Lakota people’s way of life is unmatched. Throughout the reservation, residents show amazing resilience, respect for their culture and a willingness to embrace the future.
What was life like on the Pine Ridge Reservation?
Rich has lived on the Pine Ridge Reservation most of his life, in a small house that lacks plumbing along with several members of his family. “People are fighting each other, shooting each other, someone’s getting beat up every other night.”