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Indian Reservations. A Curse or a Blessing?

1.250 Words / ~3½ pages sternsternsternsternstern Author Franziska E. in Sep. 2016
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Indian Reservations – A Curse or a Blessing?

The Standing Rock Reservation as an Example for Living Conditions Prevailing on Indian Reservations


According to the 2010 census, there are 5.2 million people of American Indian or Alaska Native origin in the United States (Norris 1). Many of those Native Americans live on reservations i.e. areas that are set aside as homeland for one or more tribes and managed by an Indian tribe in agreement with the US government (Office of Public Affairs).

This essay examines whether reservations are important for Native Americans in order to maintain their values and traditions or rather exclude them from society by putting them at a disadvantage as Native Indians do not have the same opportunities as people who do not live on tribal land.

Available data of the Standing Rock Reservation in North and South Dakota as an exemplary reservation will be used to illustrate the poor living conditions prevailing on reservations by naming some exemplary factors and numbers contributing to the situation on reservations.

While some reservations were created by the government for tribes that had forcibly been moved from their homeland, others are Native’s ancestral land (Office of Public Affairs). Correspondingly, the Standing Rock Reservation was established by the federal government as part of the Great Sioux Reservation until the land was parted into six separate smaller reservations, including the Standing Rock Reservation, through the Act of March 2, 1889 (Hall 19-24).

Today, over 8000 people of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe live on the reservation which comprises 2.3 million acres (Hall 30-34).

On the one hand, reservations are important for indigenous people in order to keep their traditions alive by offering a place where they can practise their culture freely. Taking into account Native history, one can see that this has not always been the case. When the first European settlers came to North America they did not only encounter Native Americans but also soon forced them from their homelands when passing the so-called Indian Removal Act (Library of Congress).

Likewise, the Standing Rock Sioux tribe struggled with settlers invading their tribal land and killing members of the tribe in two attacks in 1863 and 1864. In addition, the government promised the tribe land in the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty. However, this treaty was violated when settlers, miners and railroad crews were allowed into the area and parts of the Indian land, i.e. the Black Hills, were illegally taken.

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Additionally, the government tried to replace the tribe’s culture and traditions with their own and interfered in Native’s life by opening boarding schools which forced Euro-American values on Indian children and prohibited the practise of Indian traditions and culture (Hall 20-24).

As this short exemplary insight into the reservation’s history shows, Native Americans had to struggle with their identity and culture due to Euro-American settlers in the past. Therefore, it is even more important for the indigenous communities to have areas which they are free to use nowadays.

On reservations they are not bothered by outsiders but can practise their culture and traditions such as their language and spiritual ceremonies and preserve their identity.

On the other hand, the living conditions on those reservations are fairly bad as can be seen on the Standing Rock Reservation. The Sioux tribe of the Standing Rock Reservation is facing issues such as health problems, a high unemployment rate and poverty. Looking at the reservation’s poverty rate in comparison with the average poverty rate it becomes clear that people living on reservations are utterly disadvantaged. While there is an average poverty rate of 15.3% in the Unites States and an already higher rate of 22% among all Native Americans, 28.4% of these Natives living on reservations are in poverty (World Public Library Association).

Correspondingly, the housing situation on reservations is critical. In general, about 10% of families living on reservations are homeless and many houses are overcrowded (World Public Library Association). On the Standing Rock Reservation there is not only an overall lack of housing but many houses are also in bad conditions if not uninhabitable and have insufficient facilities (Hall 68-72).

As a consequence, many Natives on reservations live in inadequate shelters unsuitable for living.

Another major problem in the Standing Rock Reservation is unemployment. There is not only a comparatively high unemployment rate of 23.8% but the reservation also offers only very few job opportunities (Hall 57). In addition, many inhabitants lack secondary or higher education (e.g. only a small number have a bachelor’s degree) which makes it even harder to get one of the few jobs available.

Lastly, the health issues in the Standing Rock Reservation shall be discussed. In comparison to the state of North Dakota the situation on the reservation area is worse with respect to every health factor. Obesity, diabetes, teenage pregnancy and drug abuse are just some of the issues the reservation is facing.

To mention only a few figures, 32% of the Native Indians of the reservation are in poor health condition (compared to 12% in North Dakota) and 43% of the adults living on tribal land are obese (compared to30% in North Dakota) (Hall 38). Clearly, the data underlines the poor living conditions on reservations.

Naturally, the poor health contributes to other already mentioned problems such as unemployment and poverty and again confirms the unequal opportunities of Natives living on reservations.

Instead, Native Indians living on reservations are racially segregated into areas with poorer living conditions.

All in all, reservations are important and necessary in order to maintain Indian identity and culture. However, as the examination of the data taken from the Standing Rock Reservation has shown, Native Indians growing up or living on reservations suffer from significantly worse conditions and consequently do not have the same opportunities as people living outside reservations.

For these reasons, improvement of the living conditions on the reservations is urgently needed but cannot be discussed due to the limited scope of this paper.


List of Works Cited

Hall, Ronald, Brian E. Wilkerson. 2013-2017. Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy. n.d. Web. 8 Dec. 2015.

Norris, Tina, Paula L. Vines, and Elizabeth M. Hoeffel. The American Indian and Alaska Native Population: 2010. 2010 Census Briefs. US Census Bureau. Jan. 2012. Web. 8. Dec. 2015.

Office of Public Affairs. Department of the Interior. Frequently Asked Questions.US Department of the Interior. Indian Affairs. 12 Aug. 2015. Web. 8 Dec. 2015.

World Public Library Association. Reservation Poverty. Project Gutenberg Self-Publishing Press. Contemporary Books and Poetry for the Independent Reader. n.d. Web. 8 Dec. 2015.



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