Many Americans have a limited perception when it comes to modern American Indians and the way they identify in society. There are countless misconceptions and stereotypes stemming from mainstream media and education depict that were never really properly challenged. The Native Americans’ history is far more complex than we are even aware of, but honestly many Americans believe lies and myths or are just not properly educated on the truths about American Indians. My eyes have just been opened to some basic facts about our indigenous people that I had absolutely no clue about… and that terrified me. How could I be so ignorant to the basic reality that is occurring in our nation? How could it have never even crossed my mind that those native to this land might still be suffering today? Hopefully I can challenge you to see with fresh eyes and a new perspective from the side of those that were here in this nation from the start.
There are more than 560 federally recognized tribes in the United States today. More than 560. Now how many of those tribes can you name? 1? 2? Maybe 3?…
When I was asked how many tribes I thought there were today I figured a very small number as I made the assumption that many of them were starting to disappear due to America’s engulfing society, forcing them to conform. And yet there are thousands and thousands of tribes, nations, and peoples all throughout the nation that are not even recognized by the government on a legal level. Thousands of different nations and tribes of our indigenous people. And I could only probably name a few. Wow. My eyes opened to start to see some of the truth – the truth on how sheltered I am from the reality of the Native Americans in present day.
Many of us have this misconception that Native Americans have to have long black hair and wear leather to be considered “real” Native Americans.
Due to ignorance many think of only the 19th century mid-west Indian cultures and think that there are no more REAL Native Americans. Real? The British aren’t wearing white powdered wigs, tights, and buckled shoes anymore yet they are still real, right? How come the 5.2 million indigenous people are not seen as real American Indians? As real people even? We as Americans have this image from our history books of the big head dresses, long braids, leather, and moccasins; we think that it is something of the past or something that no longer exists in this country. Just because the nation has pushed these native people out of sight does not mean that they have to be out of mind…
The nation has worked from the start to make invisible the natives in the hopes of possibly forgetting or moving past the nation’s past. It just is not right. We deserve to know the truth about the past and the truth about the reality of the situation in present day. I can honestly say I have never seen a reservation. I have never even seen a picture of one – that is how shielded I am from reality and how hidden from the rest of society the indigenous people are. Yet, stepping into life from their perspective, I saw the entire situation with fresh eyes. I was faced with some facts that hit hard that I think everyone should be aware of.
According to the National Relief Charities,
- 1-in-3 Native American women will be raped in her lifetime; the majority of the perpetrators – white.
- 28% of American Indians are living below the federal poverty line
- There are 90,000 homeless or under housed Indian families
After further research of Native American Aid, a program for National Relief Charities that helps work to improve the living conditions of those on reservations, I found out some truth about life on a reservation or just as an American Indian in general.
- The overall living conditions on some reservations have been cited as “comparable to the Third World.” NRC’s Program Partners tend to agree with this.2
- With jobs hard to come by, unemployment ranges from 35% to 85%, depending on the community- overall unemployment for American Indians is about 49%…
- Many American Indians work full-time yet still fall below the poverty line ranging from 38%-63%
- The suicide rate is 3 times the national average
And the list goes on…
My eyes have been opened to the reality of life on the reservation and of American indians in general, hidden from the attention of the media and the public. The reality really is shocking.
Like you, I was extremely uneducated about the truth of the current situation of Native Americans. It is truly appalling to see how dismal their living conditions and quality of life can be. I think more attention needs to be placed on this issue because I am sure the majority of the American population is just was ignorant as I was before I read this post. This issue should be lumped in when there is a debate or discussion about poverty in America, because the Native Americans certainly seem to often fall into that category.
We discussed this issue last semester in my Sociology 119 class with Sam Richards. I was also completely unaware of how awful their living situations and statistics surrounding them are, probably because I never gave it a thought. I was asked the same question about how many tribes I thought there were in the country and I honestly thought maybe 10. The way we learn about history makes it seems as if the Native Americans are just that: history. We’ve never really been educated on present-day Native Americans and to me, that’s about as ignorant as our country could ever get.
I also was completely unaware of how many identified Native American tribes there are in the United States, and many that go unrecognized. I think because many Native Americans choose not to assimilate in American pop culture, there are often many misconceptions about how they choose to live their lives. Even though I think that ignorance has something to do with these misunderstandings, I wouldn’t necessary penalize Americans for having them. However, I do think that there needs to be more federal involvement on reservations, especially with poverty and suicide rates being so high. Addressing these key concerns will encourage the public to learn more about Native Americans for their uniqueness and imprint on our culture.