David Casani
November 17, 2014

Indigenous Peoples’ Rights in the US and Contemporary Issues

The United States is the melting pot of many different ethnicities and indigenous tribes attempting to harmoniously coexist. One of the major ethnic groups is the Indigenous Peoples of America. Who are they? Jose R. Martinez Cobo was a diplomat and politician who elaborated a definition for Indigenous Peoples, although the UN officially never adopted his definition, which is the commonly accepted understanding of the concept of Indigenous Peoples, stating:
“Indigenous communities, peoples and nations are those which, having a historical continuity with pre-invasion and pre-colonial societies that developed on their territories, consider themselves distinct from other sectors of the societies now prevailing on those territories, or parts of them. They form at present non-dominant sectors of society and are determined to preserve, develop and transmit to future generations their ancestral territories, and their ethnic identity, as the basis of their continued existence as peoples, in accordance with their own cultural patterns, social institutions and legal system” (NCIV).

Currently, there are 4.1 million indigenous peoples living in the US, which contributes to 1.5 of the US population (Nelson 1-19). The majority of these individuals are members of one of the five greatest tribes that forms the Confederacy of the Five Nations: Navajo, Hopi, Apache, Iroquois, and Lakota. The main objective of this paper is to analyse the political, social, and economic issues that characterized the Indigenous Peoples of America, and to call for collective action to fight against these phenomenon through short-term, intermediate and long-term solutions.
Among the many markers of indigenous cultural identity, the attachment to land is one of the most significant. Land is the basis of the indigenous economy, and indigenous people have a deep spiritual relationship with the land. For instance, they often identify themselves by taking the name of the place to which they belong (Nelson, 22-6). Dispossession of traditional lands and territories is one of the major problems faced by indigenous peoples in the US. The process of dispossession was the result of the intrusion of colonial powers beginning in the 15th century, and it continues today due to erroneous development policies and globalization (Miller, 1-26). In addition, the US is currently exploiting the natural resources located on any Indigenous American lands, often without requesting the permission of indigenous peoples (SOWIP).
Dispossession from traditional lands and sacred sites is one of the various motifs that eroded traditional indigenous knowledge. In fact, this knowledge is under severe threat of being destroyed, lost or misappropriated. First, education of Indigenous youth continually moves towards the western education system, hindering them to retain their traditional knowledge. (Education PDF) Then, negative stereotypes against the indigenous populations has led to grandparents being denied their right to foster their own grandchildren, who are regularly kidnapped, and forced to live with white Americans, stripping them of their traditional culture (Hearts). Finally, indigenous culture is exploited and commodified through the use of Indigenous American mascots in schools across the country, according to Elizabeth A. Locklear (Commodification).
Apart from the political issues analysed, that characterize the Indigenous population in the US, the socio-economic issues as well have a large impact on the problems that this population faces. Counties existing on Indigenous reservations are among the poorest in the country and living conditions found here have been compared to what is found in a third world country (Conditions). Most tribes suffer from the lack of opportunities present, the remote locations of their homes and communities suppress sustainable economic activity and growth. Indigenous Americans earn a median annual income of $33,627, while the national average wage is $44,888, according to the US Official social security website (Social Security). In addition, 25.3% of Indigenous Americans live in poverty and almost 29.9% are without health insurance coverage. Indigenous American communities have fewer full-time employed individuals than any other high-poverty community; furthermore, only 36% of males in high-poverty Indigenous American communities have full-time employment (Rodgers).
A direct consequence of poverty among Indigenous Americans is the limited access to adequate educational opportunities compared to the other ethnicities, including Latinos, Asians, African-Americans, and White Americans. In particular, only 7% of the Indigenous Americans attend Bureau of Indian Education schools, and only one-third of them showed that they were proficient in college-ready education levels, far below the average of all the students in the US (Education PDF).
Indigenous Americans are easily susceptible to disease and a lower life expectancy, so that Indigenous Americans and Alaska Natives born today have a life expectancy that is almost 6 years less than average due to factors such as inadequate education and disproportionate poverty, in addition to discrimination in the delivery of health services. Furthermore, poverty negatively influences the lack of basic health services that Indigenous Americans can receive compared to those of average American citizens. In fact, in 2003, 55% of Indigenous Americans only had access to Indian Health services (HIS), and only a limited amount were able to receive employment and private related insurance. Finally, “safe and adequate water supply and waste disposal facilities are lacking in approximately 7.5% of American Indian homes”, when compared to the total US population of homes (Grant).
Unemployment is another major issues related to poverty. The American Great Recession (2007) has kept the American Indian unemployment rate beyond 10% for five years, almost at 11%. However, unemployment was not uniformly distributed all over the territory, and the situation was particularly bad in some regions, as it was described by the Economic Policy Institute, in 2013 (Austin). As a consequence of unemployment, parents are often forced to leave their homes to seek work, leaving grandparents in charge of raising their children. In order to meet their basic needs, extended families are forced to come together to consolidate their scarce resources. This latest issue continues to increase the cultural gap between Indigenous Americans and the rest of the population in the US (Conditions).
Poverty and economic marginalization vastly contributed to the increase of different forms of violence and crimes. The worst violence is related to the abuse on Indigenous American women, and Amnesty International has denounced this horrible practice in its report titled Maze of Injustice, released in 2006. According to International law, governments have a responsibility to ensure that women are able to enjoy their right to freedom from sexual violence. However, data gathered by the US Department of Justice indicates that Indigenous American women are more than 2.5 times more likely to be raped or sexually assaulted than women in the USA in general (Maze of Injustice).
The most pressing issues are related to the lack of governmental plans of action to stop violence against indigenous populations, especially women. Furthermore, some state authorities, including the Bureau of Indian Affairs, often lack in efficiency and do not often provide reliable data on violence and sexual assault occurring among Indigenous American women. These women do not have access to free and immediate medical facilities following sexual assaults; these cases are often not legally processed in a timely manner. Most Indigenous American women do not report sexual assault crimes because they think that nothing will be done; in this matter, The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism confirmed the strong presence of stereotyping them as drunks, and as a marginalized community (Beauvais). In theory, tribal authorities should have jurisdiction over all offenders who commit crimes on their lands, but they actually lack power and ability to protect their own Indigenous communities, and violators often leave without facing prosecution (Maze of Injustice).
Although there have been numerous studies conducted on the political, social and economic issues the indigenous population of the United States currently faces; there is still a substantial amount of data absent and more importantly, a lack of public knowledge existing on these phenomenon. In order to tackle these issues and improve the rights of the indigenous people, a state of action needs to be taken to improve their health care, education, employment opportunities, legal services, and to support those affected by violence, land dispossession and a loss of cultural identity. By starting a non-profit, non-governmental organization our goals can be split into three sectors - short, medium and long term. All three sectors will be undertaken simultaneously, however, each sector will require a different amount of time required for completion. We are aware not all of our goals will be able to be achieved immediately, thus our short term goals have an aim for completion of 1-2 years, the medium term sector will face a time line of 2-5 years and the long term goals would ideally be completed in 5 or more years. Additionally, by working alongside international and local organizations which have already begun to assist and advocate for the rights of indigenous peoples, we will build a stronger network of support and community leaders.
Our non-profit NGO - I.A.S. (Indigenous American Security) will begin its work in the south west region of the country, near the four corners, which is comprised of the states Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico. This location will give us easy access to numerous Indigenous American tribes located in this area, the most prevalent being the Navajo Nation, which is also the largest reservation in the United States and is spread across the four corners. Other large reservations in this area are the Uintah and Ouray, Tohono O’odham, Fort Apache, San Carlos and the Hopi (Howling wolf). With our main office based in Phoenix, Arizona, we will have access to numerous resources such as, financial support, professionals and volunteers, and most importantly, direct access to these tribes. Our teams will be composed of community leaders, who are mostly student volunteers from the US. Teams will be trained to answer any questions, and they will explain all the general issues surrounding the violation of the rights of Indigenous Americans.
Our first immediate short-term goal is to provide direct support to Indigenous Americans in the forms of counselling and legal advice through our collaboration with psychologists, lawyers, and teachers; in addition, we will work in partnership with doctors in order to provide medical assistance for those women who are victims of sexual violence. A very powerful advertising campaign will be placed throughout key areas of Phoenix in order to promote our services; this campaign will also help to gather funds, grants and donations from experts in medical, legal, and cultural associations. A portion of this money raised will compensate professional members of our centers to ensure a consistent level of service. Furthermore, our advertisement will have to be geared towards people with little education and scarce resources, thus, several different outlets will be used, such as radio, television, newspapers, in addition to regular billboards. Ultimately, public notices will have to be programmed specifically towards women and children, since they are the most vulnerable people within the Indigenous communities.
In order to be a successful NGO we will need to inform Indigenous Americans that our center is a safe environment where their best interest is our priority. We will have a landline where anyone can call and make any general enquiries on our provided services. It will take time to gain trust from the Indigenous communities but our advertisements and involvement with other local organizations will help ensure a rapid integration within the community.
Our NGO will carry out different activities. We will provide free general counselling at our centers; here individuals will be educated on our missions and our current plans of action. Our first goal is to raise awareness and assist Indigenous communities when facing the problems of inadequate health care and education, unemployment, sexual assault, and lack of legal assistance and basic rights, sending individuals to professionals of various sectors based on their specific needs. Our second goal is to lobby governmental institutions forcing them to comply with current international resolutions and laws to defend Indigenous American rights, and to promote new laws that would allow Indigenous Americans to better enjoy of their rights.
We cannot provide legal representation, however, we will be able to layout their future plans of action in case they were mistreated or abused. US courts are known to be often unfair towards Indigenous Americans who mostly live under the poverty line and cannot afford legal representation; nonetheless, they will be encouraged to press charges, which raises awareness. In the future, these charges will be used as part of our political campaign to demonstrate the lack of enforcement on part of the local police, and government institutions. In addition, our health assistance will be limited. For such matters, Indigenous Americans will be guided to doctors with whom we develop a trusting partnership. Lastly, everyone who walks into our center will be required to take a survey concerning his or her income, occupation and circumstances for coming to our centers. Two surveys will be prepared: one for those Indigenous who are requesting legal assistance, and one for other types of service requests. Through the surveys we will be able to collect general information on those who request our assistance and what services they feel are most important. These surveys will help us to create future organizational plans, so that we will be able to be more efficient in those areas where Indigenous Americans need us the most. After Indigenous Americans have utilized our services, we will ask them to submit an additional survey to provide criticism and recommendations, as a tool to improve our organization (Fenske).
The second sector of our advocacy plan, an intermediate goal, will be to develop a political campaign. Due to the lack of reliable information available, the public is not accurately informed about the continuous violations on the rights of the Indigenous Americans. Our political campaign begins with our center in Phoenix with the surveys taken by individuals utilizing our services. Our long-term goal is to force the US government to comply with the existing acts, and to draw new laws to protect the rights of Indigenous Americans. Thus, our political campaign will be based on studies and existing materials from our own and other organizations. However, the US is composed of fifty states, each with its own customs and laws, thus, it will take several months to gather adequate information and data in order to provide appropriate solutions to the multiple issues we have to deal with throughout our campaign (Fenske).
In the meantime we are expanding our services across the western states towards the reservations located in the Midwest. Due to the geographical magnitude of the US, we will need to team up with additional activists, organizations, and local associations. The findings from our research may also be applied or serve as a model to other countries where indigenous rights are violated. Our findings will be presented in a conference in Phoenix in order to raise awareness and encourage cooperation among scholars and various organizations established in the US. From this conference, a future plan of action will be created in order to utilize this new data to the fullest. Other recent findings will also be discussed during the conference.
Based on our findings, we will encourage news reports to put pressure on the government to reform and fully comply with the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (2006). The lobbying activity carried out by our organization will have to favor the making of adequate infrastructures to promote the protection on the Rights of Indigenous Americans. Our desired achievements include the creation of a national database that would identify those persons who committed violations and victims of violations; the latter should be given appropriate compensation to the degree of the violation.
Our organization has to face several obstacles and key steps can be taken to ensure the possibility to overcome these obstacles in the coming years. The positive results from our advertising and political campaigns will take place once US citizens start to fight against violations of Indigenous American’s rights, and the US government begins to provide Indigenous Americans with sufficient infrastructure aiming to protect their rights. Fighting against the ideals of the US government would not produce any beneficial result. It is for this reason that our NGO would be the perfect mediator between Indigenous Americans and the US government. We want to work with the government to achieve our ultimate goal of improving the rights of Indigenous Americans.

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