Citation: The information below is taken from the publication Native American Voices: A Reader, of which I am a co-author and editor. Please cite this information properly!
Facts and Demographic Information About American Indian Tribes as of 2009:
Who Is An Indian?
- There is no single federal or tribal criterion that establishes Indian identity.
- Tribal Membership is determined by the enrollment criteria of the tribe/nation. Generally, if linkage to an identified tribal member is far removed, one would not qualify for enrollment
- Tribes/nations determine their own membership criteria. Blood quantum needed varies from tribe. Some tribes only require proof of descent from an Indian ancestor while others require as much as one-half blood quantum.
- To be eligible for Bureau of Indian Affairs Services, an Indian must be 1) a member of a federally recognized tribe; 2) be of ½ or more Indian Blood of tribes indigenous to the United States; or 3) must be of ¼ or more Indian ancestry.
- Names: there are many terms used, American Indian, Indians, Indigenous Peoples, First Nations, Native Americans, American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN). However, most Indians prefer their tribal name. For example a Navajo person would prefer to be called Dine, which is the name of the tribe in the Navajo language.
Population (as of 2000 census)
- 4.5 Million American Indian and Alaska Native (one tribe or any combination of Native and other mix.
- 1.5 % of the U.S. Population.
- 2.4 million are only Native American or Alaska Native, not combined with another race.
- Between 1990-2002 the Native American population grew significantly: on reservations increased by 25% and by 21% in non-reservation areas.
- The median age of Native Americans living on reservations is 25 years old and 29 years old for the total population (median age of U.S. Population is 35 years)
Tribes and Nations
- 565 federally recognized tribes and nations, including 200 Native villages in Alaska.
- Additionally at least 100 state recognized tribes.
- Many other groups remain unrecognized.
- 1.9 million AI/AN live on reservations or other trust lands.
- A federally recognized tribe means tribes that they have a legal relationship with the U.S. Government; this is referred to as a government-to-government relationship.
- A state recognized tribe means that though the Indian tribe is not Federally recognized, the state they are located in recognizes their status.
- Indians are the only U.S. minority group that must legally prove its minority status (race or ethnicity).
U.S. Citizenship
- Granted citizenship in 1924 under the Synder Act, although several western states did not allow Indians to vote until much later, for example, not until 1962 in New Mexico.
- Some Indians, such as the traditional Hopi and Iroquois, reject U.S. citizenship in favor oftheir own Indian citizenship under tribal sovereignty.
Ten Largest American Indian Tribal Groupings (2000 census):
1. Cherokee 729,533 (in combination ); 281, 069 (only Cherokee)
2. Navajo 298,197 (in combination); 269,202 (only Navajo)
3. Latin American Indian 180,940 (in combination); 104,354 (one tribal group)
4. Choctaw 158,774 (in combination); 87,349 (only Choctaw)
5. Sioux 153,360 (in combination); 108,272 (only Sioux)
6. Chippewa 149,669 (in combination); 105,907(only Chippewa)
7. Apache96,833 (in combination); 57,060 (only Apache);
8. Blackfeet 85,750 (in combination);27,104 (only Blackfeet)
9. Iroquois 80,822 (in combination); 42,212 (only Iroquois)
10. Pueblo 74,085 (in combination); 59,533 (Pueblo only)
Reservation/Non-reservation Distribution:
- In 2000, 34% of Native Americans lived on reservations and 66% lived in urban areas.
- Los Angeles County had the highest population of AI/AN at 146,500 in 2007.
- Most off-reservation people maintain contact with their home areas and reservations, rancherias, villages, or Native communities.
- There are only two reservations in Alaska, and none in Oklahoma, although both states have significantly large Native American populations.
- A reservation is land a tribe reserved for itself or assigned to the tribe when it relinquished other land areas to the U.S.
- In 2007, California had the highest population of AI/AN (689,120); followed by Oklahoma (393,500) and Arizona (335,381)
- In 2007, 18% of Alaska’s population identified AI/AN; Oklahoma 11 %; and New Mexico 10%
- 62% of the Nation’s AI/AN population lives in California, Oklahoma, Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, New York, Washington, Florida, North Carolina, Michigan and Alaska (2007).
Top Ten Cities where AI/AN live (2000 Census):
- New York, NY (87,241)
- Los Angeles, CA (53,092
- Phoenix, AZ 35,093
- Tulsa, OK (30,227)
- Oklahoma City, OK (29,001)
- Anchorage, AK (26,995)
- Albuquerque, NM (22,047)
- Chicago, IL (20,898)
- San Diego, CA (16,178)
- Houston, TX (15,743)
Indian Country:
- Indian country is a legal concept and is defined as Indian reservations, the Pueblo villages of Arizona and New Mexico, the Native villages of Alaska, and the historical Indian areas of Oklahoma.
- The term is also used to denote everywhere that Indian people live or refer to as their home.
Reservation Resources:
- There are 302 Forested Indian Reservations which encompass 17.9 million acres of Indian forest lands—7.7 million acres of timberlands and 10.2 million acres of woodlands
- 199 reservations contain timberlands and 185 reservation contain woodlands
- Indian land contains an estimated 10% of all energy resources in the United States
Health:
- AI/AN frequently contend with issues that prevent them from receiving quality medical care, including ( include )cultural barriers, geographic isolation, inadequate sewage disposal, and low income.
- Some of the leading diseases and causes of death among AI/AN are heart disease, cancer, accidents, diabetes, and stroke.
- AI/AN have a higher prevalence and risk factors than the general United States population for mental health and suicide, obesity, substance abuse, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), teenage pregnancy, liver disease, and Hepatitis.
- AI/AN have 30% higher AIDS rates than the non-Indian population
- AI/AN adults are 1.2 times more likely to have heart disease (than the general United States population.)
- AI/AN adults are 2.3 times more likely to have diabetes (than the general United States population.)
- In 2007 the tuberculosis rate for AI/AN was 5.9 % as compared to 1.1 % for the non-Indian Population in the Pima Indians of Arizona.
- Indian life expectancy is 2.4 years less than all other races in the 1999-2001 rates. Indian life expectancy has increased by 4 years from the 1996-1998 rates.
- Native infants die at a rate of 8.5 per every 1,000 live births, as compared to 6.8 per 1,000 for the U.S. all races population (2000-2002 rates).
Native people die at higher rates than other Americans from:
- tuberculosis: 600% higher
- alcoholism: 510% higher
- motor vehicle crashes: 229% higher
- diabetes: 189% higher
- unintentional injuries: 152% higher
- suicide: 62% higher
- Indian youth have the highest rate of suicide among all ethnic groups in the U.S. and it is the second leading cause of death for Native youth aged 15-24.
Education:
- 76.3 percent of Indians finish high school.
- About 250 tribal languages are still spoken, but their use is discouraged in the classroom. Native American languages and cultures are undervalued by mainstream institutions.
- 18 percent of Indians attend college (89,000 are currently enrolled).
- 13 percent of Indians graduate from college.
- 4.5 percent of Indians attain graduate degrees
Economic Welfare:
- The average household income is $33,300, as compared with $46,200 nationally
- The poverty rate is 21.2 percent for Indian families, as compared with 10.2 percent nationally.
- Unemployment averages 8.6 percent for Native Americans nationally. Real per capita income of Indians living on reservations is still less than half of the national average and unemployment is still double the rest of the country.
- Between 1990 and 2000, income levels rose by 33% and the poverty rate dropped by 7%, with little difference between those tribes with gaming and those tribes without gaming.
- Between 1992-1997, the number of Native-owned businesses grew by 84% to a total of 197,000 businesses and their receipts increased by 179%.
Other Facts:
- Indians do not get payments from the government for being Indian. However a tribe or individual may receive payment of income from their lands and resources that the federal government administers for them, such as fees collected from grazing leases.
- Indians are do not receive a free college education just for being Indian. However there are financial aid programs administered through the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
- Indians pay taxes.
- The same laws apply to Indians as non-Indians.
- Indians do not get casino checks; Indian gaming is strictly regulated by the federal government and gaming monies can only be used by tribes for economic development, except in extreme cases.
- Indians do not have “special rights.” However, all rights tribes do have are based on treaty agreements and are given in exchange for relinquishing their land to the United States.
- Indians do not speak one language; English is the primary language of Native Americans. However, nearly 250 tribal languages are still spoken as a second language.
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