In 1851, the US
government passed the Indian Appropriations Act
creating reservation lands for Native Americans. But in placing them
on reservations, the US government often
forced Native Americans to live on sub-par land
under harsh conditions. So today we're
going to take a look at what life on a Native
American reservation is really like. But before we get started,
be sure to subscribe to the Weird History channel. After that, leave
a comment and let us know what other parts of
Native American history you would like to hear about. OK, let's do this. [MUSIC PLAYING] For decades prior to the
creation of the reservation system, the US government
had forcefully and violently relocated Native American
tribes most notably through the Indian Removal
Act and the notorious Trail of Tears under President
Andrew Jackson. Reservations were
created in 1851. But for the people
intended to live there, the rules were oppressive
and unfamiliar. By 1887, President
Grover Cleveland signed the Dawes Act
that allotted land to each Native American
Family to promote ranching and agriculture,
ostensibly, to improve their economic condition
and assimilate culturally. It looked good on paper. But it had the opposite effect. Never trust a guy named Grover. This act broke up
lands into lots-- some not productive
or profitable-- and at the end of a 25-year
moratorium on taxes, many Native Americans had to
sell the property that had been allotted to pay state taxes-- often excessive. The result was landless
families, fractured tribes, and a checkerboard of
farmland that cannot be worked efficiently by anybody. It may have seemed
like a great idea, but it had devastating
cultural and economic impact. During the 20th century,
Native American life was directly tied to
the reservation system. And until the 1950s,
most Native Americans lived on reservations. Today the majority of Native
Americans live in cities. But for the roughly
1.2 million who live on the 326
reservations across the US, life is still difficult. Tribes have had sovereignty
since the signing of the US Constitution. What sovereignty meant
has been a point of debate among the tribes and with local,
state, and federal governments. But throughout the 18th
and 19th centuries, Native Americans lost many
of their rights and land. The Indian Reorganization
Act of 1934 sought to correct this
by encouraging tribes on reservations to
draft constitutions, implement laws, and
conduct court proceedings. Every tribe is run and
organized differently, but they're run by
some tribal authority and are exempt from most
federal and state laws. Tribal councils control
membership, property, conduct, and tribal justice. Tribal councils have
some form of election and represent the
interests of their members and the tribe as a whole. However, while Native Americans
in federally recognized tribes are members of their
respective nations and enjoy a level
of autonomy, they are still legal citizens
of the United States. In fact, modern reservations
are mostly held in trust by the federal
government while tribes that live on reservations
are self-governing entities. So while you live
on a reservation, you're subjected
to and protected by laws of your tribal
nation as well as those of the federal government. It's similar to how state
governments operate. However, the multiple
jurisdictions of tribal, state, and
federal governments has had a complicating effect
on crime and the justice system. Due in part to jurisdictional
issues, low police staffing, and large areas, reservations
experience comparatively high crime rates and low
prosecution rates even compared to other
rural settings. Violence against
women is more common among Native American groups. Even if an assault
happens on a reservation, there are few
resources and support options for Native women. Due to differences
in legal systems, Native American courts
do not have jurisdiction to prosecute non-tribal people. They would have to be tried
in state or federal courts. Data also indicates
that deaths by homicide were more than 2 times
likely for Americans living on reservations
between 2009 and 2011. These high homicide
rates can be linked to alcohol abuse, drug addiction
and trafficking, and gang activity. There is great income
disparity within the 574 federally recognized tribes,
largely due to gaming activity. But extreme poverty
exists for many tribes. And reservations
have been compared to developing countries. In 2014, the median income for
all Native Americans and Alaska Natives was just over $37,000. But some Indigenous people
living on reservations reportedly earn less
than $10,000 a year. That's well below the national
poverty threshold of $12,500 for a single-person household. In fact, Northwestern
University estimates that up to one third of all
Native American households has income below
the poverty line. For example, Oglala Lakota
County, South Dakota, home of the Pine
Ridge Reservation has a per capita
income of just $8,768-- the lowest in the nation. Many reservations lack
running water and electricity. And residents often live
in shacks, trailers, and broken-down houses. That overcrowding is a
result of limited resources with households
struggling to survive. Grandparents, parents, and
children live with family members who cannot afford
housing of their own. These living situations
also mean child care often falls to grandparents. In other cases, children
remain unsupervised while their parents are away at work. And while every kid dreams
of not having a babysitter, it's almost never in
their best interest. In addition, poor
living conditions hamper children's
ability to do schoolwork. Cheryl Locke, a teacher at
the Pine Ridge Reservation, left the reservation
to get a college degree and returned to teach. She regularly sees students
without study supplies or even their own beds. According to her,
many of the children sleep on floors or
wherever they can, and then they're
expected to perform 100%. There is some evidence that
income levels on reservations may be slowly rising. But Native Americans not
living on reservations earn almost twice as
much as those who do. Understandably, this
fact has caused tension within reservations. According to one
study in Native News, Native Americans are on one hand
encouraged to move into a city, go to school, find a job,
perhaps start a family, and at the same time, told
to stay on the reservation where there's family and
generations of support. Making this latter
option difficult is the reality that while
urban areas are increasingly becoming rife with
promise and opportunity, tribal government has a
high turnaround rate which can lead to economic uncertainty
because the majority of jobs are tied to tribal government. Dustin Monroe, a member
of the Blackfeet Nation, echoed this by saying people
are drawn off reservations because of instability. Of course, you could always
get a job at the casino if government work
isn't for you. While federal and tribal
government jobs make up a majority of the
employment opportunities on many reservations, the
reservations themselves often depend on tourism and
gambling money to survive. When Congress passed the Indian
Gaming Regulatory Act in 1988, it opened up tribal lands
to unrestricted gambling enterprises. Since then tribal
nations in 29 states have opened casinos, bingo
halls, and other gambling businesses. The revenue these
businesses garner varies by state and location. But annual revenue for
all Native American gaming reportedly exceeds $32 billion. While some Native
Americans believe the Act has helped to
stabilize reservation income, others find it controversial. Along with gambling,
many reservations receive income from tourists. Some host traditional
events to teach visitors about their culture,
while others feature nature reserves and
other recreational activities. Native Americans
living on reservations rely on Indian Health Services,
or IHS, for medical care. Unfortunately, the IHS has been
underfunded since its creation in the 1970s. The IHS receives a lump
sum of money each year to treat and care for all
Native Americans living on reservations regardless
of need or number. While more than half
of Native Americans now live off reservation,
the health care gap between Native populations
and other Americans demonstrates the continued
lack of access, opportunity, and information
among Native groups. Clinics on reservations
often have limited hours, don't let patients
make appointments, and lack important
equipment like MRI machines. According to Donna Keeler, the
director of South Dakota Urban Indian Health, federal
prisoners receive more care than people living
on reservations. Both drug abuse and
alcoholism are also prevalent. Technically, 2/3 of
reservations in the US are mandated dry by
the tribal governments to combat high alcoholism rates. But there are bars
and liquor stores just outside reservation boundaries. So the effectiveness of these
dry laws are often minimal. Studies show teenagers
on reservations are much more likely
to use serious drugs like methamphetamine. Between 2006 and 2014,
drug cases on reservations reportedly increased
drastically. Calls for prevention
programs, especially in the face of high fetal
alcohol syndrome numbers and incidents of babies
born addicted to meth, have emphasized the importance
of local support systems. But with a lack of access
to adequate health care and substance abuse
treatment facilities, Native Americans are more
than four times more likely to die of liver disease,
three times more likely to die of diabetes, and
almost twice as likely to die of pneumonia or influenza. The life expectancy
for Native Americans is considerably shorter
than the national average. Studies show that
between 2009 and 2011 was more than five years below
that of any other racial group in the United States. That sounds bad. And it is. But it's actually an
improvement from 1970 when the life expectancy
for Native Americans was only 44 years-- 30% lower than other Americans. However, life expectancy
for Native Americans varies by state and reservation. In some areas, it can be
as much as 20 years shorter than that of other Americans. For example, at the Pine Ridge
Reservation in South Dakota, life expectancy hovers in the
upper 40s for men and mid-50s for women-- far below the state's
already low average. Some homes and buildings
on reservations lack running water due to the
remote location and the lack of reservation infrastructure. In Arizona and
Utah, for example, people living on
Navajo Nation land regularly visit watering
holes five to six miles away to retrieve water. At the Pine Ridge
Reservation in South Dakota, some people have lived
their entire lives without running
water or electricity. That's less than 100
miles from Mount Rushmore, one of the most famous National
Parks in the United States. But running water is
only part of the problem. Insufficient sanitation
and groundwater pollution further limit access to
clean drinking water. In North Dakota, Nebraska,
and other Western states, mining operations
and outdated wells contaminate water
on reservations. In Arizona, for example,
numerous health conditions and high rates of
child death are linked to uranium contamination. In 2016, a major protest took
place at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation
in North Dakota where people from
across the country joined Native American water
protectors in protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline. During construction, engineers
rerouted the oil pipeline through tribal lands reportedly
without tribal permission. Protesters engaged in
a months-long battle to stop the pipeline's
construction and deter water contamination
at Standing Rock. But in the end,
the US government allowed construction
to continue. Reservations play
an essential role in preserving Native
American culture. In 1978, the federal government
passed the American Indian Religious Freedom Act which made
it legal for Native Americans to carry out their
Indigenous spiritual beliefs and practices. The Act allowed them to use
bones and feathers from eagles, which are a protected species,
use controlled substances in religious ceremonies,
and access and control the access of others to certain
areas they consider sacred. Native Americans who encountered
Christianity, especially Roman Catholicism, often
blended native beliefs with those of Catholicism
creating a fusion of faiths. A robust Catholic
presence remains on reservations in the larger
Native American community. Today an estimated 20% to
25% of Native Americans identify as Catholic. Additionally, Congress
has passed several pieces of legislation aimed at
protecting Native languages since the 1970s. Native languages, many of
which were specifically targeted by assimilation efforts
at forced boarding schools, have experienced a new
life around the country since the 1960s. Some experts attribute
this resurgence to the languages' continued
use on reservations. Many reservations have
implemented language immersion programs that bring
tribe members together to strengthen the use of
their ancestral speech. Native language retention
programs and reservation schools across the
US are also helping to carry on
linguistic traditions and preserve them for
future generations. So what do you think? Which of these facts about life
on Native American reservations surprised you the most? Let us know in the
comments below. And while you're at it, check
out some of these other videos from our Weird History. [MUSIC PLAYING]
