Native American Culture

• The cultivation of the soul or mind

• The full “expression” of the unique “authentic” self.

A Heritage Rich in Culture

Columbus led the way

The European colonization of the Americas forever changed the lives and cultures of the Native Americans. In the 15th to 19th centuries, their populations were ravaged, by the privations of

displacement, by disease, and in many cases by warfare with European groups and enslavement by them. The first Native American group encountered by Columbus, the 250,000 Arawaks of

Haiti, were enslaved. Only 500 survived by the year 1550, and the group was extinct before 1650.Europeans also brought diseases against which the Native Americans had no immunity. Chicken

pox and measles, though common and rarely fatal among Europeans, often proved fatal to Native Americans, and more dangerous diseases such as smallpox were especially deadly to Native American populations. It is difficult to estimate the total percentage of the Native American

population killed by these diseases.Epidemics often immediately followed European exploration, sometimes destroying entire

villages. Some historians estimate that up to 80% of some Native populations may have died due to European diseases.

Then

You Tube Our Spirits Don’t Speak English 1879 Children

Kill the Indian, Save the man!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgaKyWswj

X4&feature=related

Remove and Educate the white/right way.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDshQTBh5d4

Home Sweet Home (life on the reservation)

http://www.history.com/topics/native-american-cultures/videos?paidlink=1&vid=HIS_SEM_Search&keywds=american%2Bindians%2Bcultures&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Historical%20Groups&utm_term=american%20indians%20cultures#sitting-bull

Reservations

The federal government is charged with allocating money to tribal governments, in exchange for all the land the tribes ceded. However, this money is only allocated to tribal entities, not to individual Indian people.

The Carlisle Experiment

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgaKyWswjX4&feature=related

Native American Indian heritage is rich in tradition and culture

unique to the legacy of our country. But many Native American tribal members living on Indian reservations are struggling with a different legacy. More than 300,000 Native Americans are either homeless or living in life-threatening conditions

Poverty

Over 550 American Indian tribes exist in the U.S.1 NRC works on over

75 of the remote and poverty-stricken reservations. 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

Access to jobs is limited on the reservations. Unemployment ranges from 35% to 85%, depending on the community. Overall unemployment for American Indians is about 49%.3

Many American Indians work full-time yet still fall below poverty level. Poverty ranges from 38% to 63% of the population on Navajo, Rosebud, Pine Ridge, Lower Brule, Crow Creek, and other reservations in NRC’s service area.

From 30-43% of American Indian children are living in poverty.5

10 Fast Facts

The high school dropout rate for American Indian students is 30 to 70%, depending on the reservation and the state. About 11% of American Indians have a college degree; this is less than half the national average.6

Nearly 23% of American Indian households experience food insecurity the highest of any ethnic group in the U.S. Food insecurity includes resource constraints that limit the ability to buy food, concerns about running out of food, not eating so the children can eat, or experiencing persistent hunger.7

Suicide rates for American Indians between the ages of 15 and 24 are 3 times the national average, and suicide is the second leading cause of death for their age group.8

Life expectancy for American Indians has improved yet still trails that of other Americans by a few years. American Indians have a diabetes epidemic — the highest in the U.S. The tuberculosis rate for American Indians is 7 times higher. Cancer-related disparities for American Indians are higher than for any minority group in the U.S., mainly due to poverty and lack of access.9

There is a housing crisis in Indian country. About 90,000 American Indian families are homeless or under-housed and 40% of on-reservation housing is considered inadequate.10

A Hope for A Brighter Future..

Robert Looks Twice

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2011/10/boys-dream-build-a-better-playground-become-first-native-american-president/

http://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUTUQ7_TFW4&feature=player_detailpage#t=266s

Works Cited

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2011/10/boys-dream-build-a-better-playground-become-first-native-american-president/

http://www.nrcprograms.org/site/PageServer?pagename=press_reservation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgaKyWswjX4&feature=related