NATIVE AMERICA AT THE NEW MILLENNIUM
Authors:
Publication Year: 2001
Last Updated: 2010-01-21 08:14:08
Journal: Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development
Keywords: Native America; cultural diversity; American Indian/Alaska Native; tribes; government; leadership; socio-economic status; youth; education; crime; Indian Country; gang violence; teen drug use; family; community
Short Abstract:
It is impossible to weave a concise and meaningful summary of the state of Native America at the new millennium without losing a sense of the cultural richness and diversity that characterizes Indian Country. The experiences, concerns, problems, and succeses of tribes and individuals are as varied as the American Indian and Alaska Native people themselves. Indeed, looking across the more than 550 tribes that comprise Indian Country, one sees a picture of diversity-of societies and cultures, of governments and leadership, of organizations and activities, of socio-economic status, and of trends and concerns. Nonetheless, there are identifiable common threads that tie America's 2.4 million Native Americans together. The task of this introduction is to highlight th patterns.
Abstract: It is impossible to weave a concise and meaningful summary of the state of Native America at the new millennium without losing a sense of the cultural richness and diversity that characterizes Indian Country. The experiences, concerns, problems, and successes of tribes and individuals are as varied as the American Indian and Alaska Native people themselves. They are as different as the subsistence fisherman from the Native Village of Quinhagak, Alaska, is from the Wall Street-savy Mohegan Tribal Council member, as the parliamentary Flathead democracy is from the traditional Cochiti theocracy, and as the Navajo "code talking" veteran of World War II is from the hip-hopping Pima teenager skateboarding on the Gila River reservation. Indeed, looking across the more than 550 tribes that comprise Indian Country, one sees a picture of diversity - of societies and cultures, of governments and leadership, of organizations and activities, of socio-economic status, and of trends and concerns. Nonetheless, there are identifiable common threads that tie America's 2.4 million Native Americans together. The task of this introduction is to highlight the patterns. At the turn of the millennium, Amerian Indians face old challenges armed with newfound strengths, and new obstacles braced by deep traditions. A single, yet incisive example of this convergence of past and present concerns youth on the reservation, especially with the respect to two major issues: education and crime. The need for adequate education continues to challenge tribes, but a recent economic resugence in Indian Country has given many tribes the wherewithal to begin to make up for chronic federal shortfalls in curriculum development and school contstruction funds. Likewise, while the burgeoning youth population strains standard non-Indian approaches to gang violence, teen drug use, and youth crime, tribes are tapping deep cultural connections to find solutions. Whether it is the union of Ho-Chunk elders and youth in mentoring programs, the restorative systems of justice for Navajo juveniles, or the training of Ojibwe teens to make music videos in their Native tongue, tribes are finding that traditional intergenerational bonds form a strong foundation for addressing today's issues. Those bonds of family, community, shared history and shared challenges stretch back through centuries. They undergird what it is to be "Indian" in America at the new millennium. They are the foundation on which Indian peoples now strive to define their own futures for themselves.
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