Native American reservation politics

"Approximately 14 percent of all American Indians in 1980 lived on large reservations with reservation poverty of 40 percent or higher." Despite the conditions, Natives continue to live on the reservations because they see it as a cultural center for their particular tribe, value the implied sense of community, and receive government-funded benefits that they wouldn't gain otherwise. There are some unwilling to share the "old ways" with outsiders because they feel it is sacred knowledge not easily given away to someone not of Native lineage. They are devoted to the increase in economic innovation, and accomplish their mission by focusing on the growing number of Native youths and not placing a priority on traditional ways. Native Americans suffer not only the highest poverty rates of all ethnic groups in America, but also the highest unemployment and disease rates. Substance use is common among the youth as well as teenage pregnancy and suicide. ==Indigenous land management and environmental concerns==

Hazardous waste facilities Structural violence plays a significant role in many hazardous waste facilities being located on tribal lands. With Native American peoples being among the lowest socioeconomic class, they are vulnerable to exploitation by these waste facilities and other private sectors. Tribal Lands are subject to different environmental policies than non-native lands, and hazardous waste and nuclear waste facilities have taken to offering generous stipends to tribes and Native Americans to build waste or nuclear facilities on their land. Some of these stipends can go into the millions which can be extremely tempting to tribes considering their socioeconomic status and lack of economic improvement. Because of this, hazardous waste management and disposal disproportionately affects Native American groups by nearly 1.8%. This has been referred to as something called a “Toxic Trade” and is comparable to bribery or blackmail. Many tribes are torn by these facilities - some encourage it because of the economic opportunities it would bring, others adamantly refuse it due to health and environmental degradation. However, these treaties were blatantly abolished after the discovery of valuable minerals and uranium on Native lands. In consequence, mining began to flourish. Once resources began depleting, mining slowed to a halt and mines effectively became abandoned. Tribes are entitled to ownership of sufficient water supply in the interest of irrigating Practically Irrigable Acreage (PIA), an allowance that emerged due to the original intention of reservations, as land for Native Americans to work to grow crops. In the context of the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act, federally-recognized tribes are viewed as states and are entitled to unlimited access to their water supply, but there is no oversight available to ensure the quality of the drinking water. Due to the effects of hazardous waste facilities and the environmental degradation that has occurred as a result of resource mining, the water sources available on reservations are often polluted. As an example, the drinking water in the Navajo Nation is polluted with toxic uranium levels, and consuming such toxins often leads to illness. Further, the severe poverty levels on many reservations means that many reservation homes lack running water or may even lack sanitation amenities such as toilets, sinks, and showers altogether. For tribes without running water or limited access to sanitation amenities, disease and illness can spread easily. Discussion of water rights on reservations often return to questions of sovereignty, tribal recognition, and basic human rights. Further, ownership of water can be seen as a cultural symbol for Native Americans, with their ownership of water becoming synonymous with the question of land ownership, and thus the loss of their water rights becoming synonymous with the loss of their homelands. While some tribes are able to profit economically from their water ownership, such as through leasing their water rights to other tribes or to surrounding areas, the issues regarding water quality remain a concern. ==Healthcare: improvements vs. shortcomings==

One aspect of reservation life that discourages tribal members is healthcare, a service provided by the United States government for approximately 800,000 Natives. According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Native Americans receive lower quality healthcare than other minorities such as Hispanics. With the addition of the HR3200 healthcare bill comes the promise of better services provided for the Native people. There will be an approximate 13% increase in funding for the Indian Health Service. Dr. Roubideaux, the head of the IHS, praises this addition saying, "There is not a Native American alive today who has not witnessed the many shortcomings of the Indian Health Service", but as Dr. Roubideaux has said, "most of the failures were due to an extreme shortage of funds." ==Cultural barriers==

According to Elaine Watson Jordan, Ph.D., the Native American education system is severely flawed with respect to cultural barriers. In Breaking Barriers, Jordan notes that "it is important to describe the complexities of culture and language to illuminate how limited standardized practices and measures might be to summarize the skills of many children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds". She states that total "indoctrination to a new culture" Research was done to determine the "occupational adjustment" of American Indian youth coming from reservations and seeking education away from home. The study found that "the family is perhaps the most important aspect of the traditional Indian's life". From 1994 to 1996, the alcoholism death rate among Natives was seven times that of the nation. "Lifetime prevalence of alcohol dependence was high among all tribes (men: 21–56%, women: 17–30%), but one (men: 1%, women: 2%)." Educational interests In June 2004, 90% of high school age natives attended public school, although the dropout rate was the highest of any minority. Beyond the fourth grade, academic performance drops quickly. A survey of schools indicates the reasoning behind the dropouts: • Student-teacher relationships (teachers do not care about me – 37%; teachers do not provide enough assistance – 39%; disagreements with teacher – 33%) • Content of schooling (school is not important to what I want to do in life – 44%; school is not important to me as a Native American – 24%) • Lack of parental support (problems at home – 44%; lack of parental encouragement – 39%) Despite the dropout rate, some Native students have elected to go to college of their own accord, though the transition is difficult in regards to financing and receiving support from home. "Hispanics and Native Americans trail substantially behind blacks in terms of college enrollment, retention, and graduation despite the fact that they, like blacks, may benefit from Affirmative Action." A National Educational Longitudinal Survey revealed that in the late 1990s, the United States Education system served 1.4% of Natives. Also, Native Americans are the second most disadvantaged minority group in the nation when it comes to transitioning from single parent households to a continued education. In her book Living Through the Generations: Continuity and Change in Navajo Women's Lives, Joanna McCloskey addresses a growing desire to receive a further education among her Native youth. "Younger generations recognize the necessity of further training and education to compete in the labor force, and high school graduation remains symbolic of the vast gulf between the elders who never attended school." Achievement gap regarding language To evade a shift to English, some Native American tribes have initiated language immersion schools for children, where a native Indian language is the medium of instruction. For example, the Cherokee Nation instigated a 10-year language preservation plan that involved growing new fluent speakers of the Cherokee language from childhood on up through school immersion programs as well as a collaborative community effort to continue to use the language at home. This plan was part of an ambitious goal that in 50 years, 80% or more of the Cherokee people will be fluent in the language. Formed in 2006, the Kituwah Preservation & Education Program (KPEP) on the Qualla Boundary focuses on language immersion programs for children from birth to fifth grade, developing cultural resources for the general public and community language programs to foster the Cherokee language among adults. There is also a Cherokee language immersion school in Tahlequah, Oklahoma that educates students from pre-school through eighth grade. Because Oklahoma's official language is English, Cherokee immersion students are hindered when taking state-mandated tests because they have little competence in English. The Department of Education of Oklahoma said that in 2012 state tests: 11% of the school's sixth-graders showed proficiency in math, and 25% showed proficiency in reading; 31% of the seventh-graders showed proficiency in math, and 87% showed proficiency in reading; 50% of the eighth-graders showed proficiency in math, and 78% showed proficiency in reading. The Oklahoma Department of Education listed the charter school as a Targeted Intervention school, meaning the school was identified as a low-performing school but has not so that it was a Priority School. Ultimately, the school made a C, or a 2.33 grade point average on the state's A-F report card system. The report card shows the school getting an F in mathematics achievement and mathematics growth, a C in social studies achievement, a D in reading achievement, and an A in reading growth and student attendance. "The C we made is tremendous," said school principal Holly Davis, "[t]here is no English instruction in our school's younger grades, and we gave them this test in English." She said she had anticipated the low grade because it was the school's first year as a state-funded charter school, and many students had difficulty with English. Eighth graders who graduate from the Tahlequah immersion school are fluent speakers of the language, and they usually go on to attend Sequoyah High School where classes are taught in both English and Cherokee. ==Changing gender roles==

"The Great Law of Peace included a section akin to the U.S. Bill of Rights, protecting the freedom of worship, speech, and assembly. The Cherokees limited town size so that all citizens could have the opportunity to speak in each council session if they so desired. Both republics were gender-blind, allowing women and men the same opportunities to participate and, if elected, to lead." As late as 1989, some Native women retained the belief that raising families was their duty. One woman, Cindy Negale describes, "I prefer the traditional life because I was brought up very traditional by my grandparents...I am telling [my children] that Navajo is important." These sentiments also include grandmother, community steward, and cultural preservationist (storyteller). Mae Chee Castillo is revered as a political activist for publicly "lecturing" and requesting presidential actions to sustain economic policies within Native American societies. Her demonstrations have set a political precedence for Native American women. ==Self-government==

flag "The Iroquois and the Cherokees did not value the process of a democratic republic because it consumed their identity; they valued it because it protected their individuality. The political debate from the Cherokee town council to the Iroquois Grand Council limited by law what the group could do to the person." Congress then passed legislation recognizing the tribal judicial system and the decisions made through it. Groups such as the American Indian Movement (AIM) support this movement because it allows them to act independent of the United States government while still securing their voting rights. == See also ==