Investigate The States And Tribes In The Best Employment Situations
The analysis in Part I shows that there are some states and tribes where Native Americans are receiving significant boosts to their odds of employment. After one takes into account demographic, personal, human capital, urbanicity, and reservation-status factors, residence in Mississippi, Oregon, and Oklahoma appears to improve Native Americans odds of employment relative to those of whites.
What is occurring in these states, and can it be replicated? Is it due to state policies, tribal policies, fortuitous economic circumstances, or something else? As is often the case with research, the findings of this study lead to new, important questions.
Among tribes, the limited data available suggest that the Tlingit-Haida, Aleut, Cherokee, Choctaw, Pueblo, Lumbee, Creek, Chippewa, and Eskimo tribes had relatively high odds of being employed. As with the states where Native Americans are doing relatively well, these tribes need to be investigated further to understand why they are faring better than most other tribes. Their successes may be transferable to American Indians more broadly.
How To Apply For Native American Benefits
General information about applying for any of the above-listed benefits involves contacting your local Bureau of Indian Affairs office for more information. They will help you find a regional office or representative to help you throughout the whole process. In total, 12 offices exist across the United States including Alaska, although there are smaller agencies and individual representatives you should be able to find convenient to most major areas.
Tribe-related benefits such as grants for communities or development funding have their own unique application processes depending on the agency or group that controls them. These must come from tribal leaders or legal representation and not random individuals who want, for example, improved housing or a reservation school. Due to the sovereignty of native tribes within the United States, things rely on multiple regulations and practices to make any progress. Expect to wait quite a while for any decisions.
Individuals who need help with housing assistance, upgrading construction, paying for heating or electricity, or other related issues can apply directly. Make sure you and your family are registered with a recognized tribe, have trial identification cards or documents, and have all other necessary information complete before submitting an application for anything. This will help minimize processing and wait times. All these things are also required to get approvals.
Native Americans And Jobs: The Challenge And The Promise
Report By Algernon Austin December 17, 2013
Briefing Paper #370
In recent years, Native Americans have increased their income and wealth through new and innovative economic development activities. For instance, tribes have increased their control over their natural resources and food systems, they have become players in the countrys energy sector, and they have begun trading with Asia . Despite these positive developments, however, Native Americans are still one of the United States most economically disadvantaged populations.
In 2011, about one in four American Indians and Alaska Natives1 lived in poverty. In contrast, about one in 10 non-Hispanic whites lived in poverty . Not surprisingly, the Native American population is a relatively low-wealth population. In 2000, Native Americans median wealth was equal to only 8.7 percent of the median wealth among all Americans . For most Americans, a home is a key source of wealth. Native Americans, however, have a significantly lower homeownership rate than whites, and the homes they do own tend to be worth much less than those of whites .
As has long been the case, many Native American communities are economically depressed, and their jobless rates are high. Only when Native Americans have a high and steady employment rate will their poverty rate decline and their wealth begin to grow.
Part I finds:
Part II presents a variety of proposals to improve Native American employment outcomes. It argues:
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How Did Britain Rule The World
At its height it was the largest empire in history and, for over a century, was the foremost global power. By 1913 the British Empire held sway over 412 million people, 23 per cent of the world population at the time, and by 1920 it covered 35,500,000 km2 , 24 percent of the Earths total land area.
Proving Native American Ancestry Using Dna
Every day, I receive e-mails very similar to this one.
My family has always said that we were part Native American. I want to prove this so that I can receive help with money for college.
The reasons vary, and not everyone wants to prove their heritage in order to qualify for some type of assistance. Some want to find their tribe and join to reclaim their lost heritage. Some want to honor their persecuted and hidden ancestors, undoing some of the wickedness of the past, and some simply seek the truth. Regardless of why, they are all searching for information lost to them.
Id like to talk about three topics in proving Native Ancestry. First, Id like to do some myth-busting. Second, Id like to talk a little about conventional research and third, Id like to discuss what DNA can, and cant, do for you.
As you read this blog, please click on the links. Im not going to repeat something Ive already covered elsewhere.
Myth-Busting
Myth 1 Free College
There is no free college for Native Americans. There are sometimes scholarships and grants available, mostly by the individual tribes themselves, for their official members.
Myth 2 Joining a Tribe
Myth 3 DNA Testing Will Reveal my Tribe
Simply put, most federally recognized tribes arent interested in more tribal members. More members mean a smaller piece of the pie for existing members. The pot of resources, whatever resources youre discussing, is only so large and it must be shared by all tribal members.
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Untangling Land Ownership Issues
In addition to payments to individual Indians under the Cobell settlement, the agreement directed the Department of the Interior to address the issue of fractionation of land ownership, in which small tracts of land have hundreds or even thousands of owners. Bequests provide one example of how fractionation can occur: when two partners own a parcel of land together, each may bequeath a share of their half to their children, who then bequeath shares to their children, and so on until the land is heavily parceled. Within just three generations, a small piece of land could easily have more than 100 owners.
The Claims Resolution Act provided $1.9 billion to establish a Trust Land Consolidation Fund, to allow the Secretary of the Interior to purchase fractional interests in trust or restricted land over the next ten years. The Department established the Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations, through which interested individual owners receive payments for voluntarily selling their fractional interests in Indian country land. That land would then be held in trust for the tribe with jurisdiction. About 150 reservations contain fractional ownership interests available for purchase under the Buy-Back Program.
The Chairman of the Makah Tribe of Washington testified that the tribe had identified and prioritized specific parcels of land on their reservation for purchase, including areas which provide timber harvest and contain cultural sites.
Learn more about the buy-back program
Can You Get Money For Being Native American
Money for tribes come in a couple different ways dividends or gambling revenues. Dividends can come from the government to be distributed to tribes and their members based on the tribes history with government. They can receive compensation for land disputes or things like land rights.
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Available Native American Benefits
No matter what type of BIA-related options you have an interest in, you must meet certain criteria to receive them. As mentioned above, enrollment in a tribe that the federal government recognizes is the first and most important. You also must live within an area already approved for services, which can include reservations, tribal lands, and more.
Many benefits are also need-based. In order to get funds for housing, utilities, food, and other necessary things, you cannot have sufficient money or resources to procure them yourselves. Also, if you already receive public benefits of any kind, you may not be eligible to receive these NA benefits, too. Visit an appointed social worker to go over the details about how to apply for Native American benefits.
Before describing some of the Native American benefits available, it is important to note that funding and compliance with treaty obligations does not always work the way it is intended to. Poverty among Native peoples is at some of the highest rates all across the country.
The 2019 budget for the BIA’s services tops $2.4 billion. This total amount covers every single benefit that they provide, including some handled by the Office of Indian services that have no immediate or direct impact on how people live in their day-to-day lives.
Some of these budgetary interests include:
- Funds saved for potential disaster relief
- Law enforcement on reservations
- Construction or roads and utility services coming into reservations
Bia’s Fiscally Irresponsible Behavior May Prove More Sinister Than Mere Incompetence
So how did
You can choose almost any year since the BIA’s predecessor, the Indian Department, was created in 1824 and find governments reports describing poor management, no accounting system, missing money, no attempt to fulfill the fiduciary duty to the Indians as promised and required by law.
Congress has verbally demanded accountability and drastic change in the BIA’s behavior for more than 100 years. Yet as of 1996 little if anything has actually changed. A 1992 report titled “Misplaced Trust: The Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Mismanagement of the Indian Trust Fund” was prepared by the Committee on Government Operations. The 66-page report contained a scathing review of the BIA and hundreds of examples of the bureau’s blundering over the years.
Among other things, the report surmised that “one hundred sixty three years later, Schoolcraft’s assessment of the BIA’s financial management still rings true. BIA’s administration of the Indian trust fund continues to make the accounts look as though they had been handled with a pitchfork.
“Undoubtedly there is a screw loose in the public machinery at the Bureau. Indeed, while mismanagement of the Indian trust fund has been reported for more than a century, there is no evidence that either the Bureau or the Department of the Interior has undertaken any sustained or comprehensive effort to resolve glaring deficiencies.”
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Senate Passes Largest Investment In Native Programs In History More Than $31 Billion Heading To Native Communities
Manu Tupper or Mike Inacay at
SENATE PASSES LARGEST INVESTMENT IN NATIVE PROGRAMS IN HISTORY, MORE THAN $31 BILLION HEADING TO NATIVE COMMUNITIES
WASHINGTON U.S. Senator Brian Schatz , chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, helped secure more than $31.2 billion in dedicated funding for Tribal governments and Native communities, comprising the largest investment in history for Native programs. The new funding will deliver immediate relief for hard-hit Native American families and support Tribal Nations as they build a bridge toward economic recovery.
Native communities need relief. We listened and we took action. With more than $31 billion for Tribal governments and Native programs, the American Rescue Plan delivers the largest one-time investment to Native communities in history, said Senator Schatz, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. This historic funding is a down payment on the federal governments trust responsibility to Native communities and will empower American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians to tackle COVID-19s impacts on their communities.
The $31.2 billion investment in Native communities includes:
$20 billion for Tribal governments to combat COVID-19 and stabilize Tribal community safety-net programs through Treasurys State/Local Coronavirus Relief Fund
$6+ billion for Native health systems
$1.248 billion for HUD Tribal & Native Hawaiian housing programs
New Special Trustee Nominated
The Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians was created by the statute in the 1994 American Indian Trust Fund Management Reform Act. Located within the Department of the Interior, the purpose of the OST is to improve the accountability and management of Indian funds held in trust by the federal government. The OST manages both tribal trust funds and Individual Indian Money accounts from commercial, industrial, recreational and agricultural leases, as well as from rights-of-way uses, grazing and range permits and other sources. The Office of Special Trustee coordinates efforts to improve trust asset management and beneficiary services throughout the Department of the Interior and will continue to do so until the Special Trustee is satisfied with the implementation of all needed trust reforms.
The President nominated Vincent G. Logan, a member of the Osage Nation, to serve as the fourth Special Trustee. Logan is a corporate finance attorney and is an Individual Indian Monies account holder himself. On December 11, the Senate Indian Affairs Committee held a hearing on Logans nomination and approved it the following week.
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Related Info Dna Results Vs Tribal Enrollment Vs Cdib What Do They All Mean
Interestingly, even the federal government requires that you meet a certain minimum before granting you some federal benefits.
To give you an example, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians require a minimum of 1/16 degree of Cherokee blood for tribal enrollment, while the Bureau of Indian Affairs Higher Education Grant expects you to have the minimum of 1/4 Native American blood percentages.
That means 25% of your blood is from Native American ancestors.
Why The Us Government Is Paying Half A Billion In Settlements To 17 Tribal Governments
That adds to 95 cases the U.S. has settled with native groups since 2012
Correspondent
The Interior and Justice Departments announced earlier this week in a press release that U.S. government has reached an agreement with 17 tribal governments across the nation to pay $492 million for mismanaging money and natural resources held in trust for the benefit of native people.
According to Rebecca Hersher at NPR, the settlement caps a four-year push by the Obama administration to resolve more than 100 lawsuits brought against the government by indigenous people claiming the Interior Department did not have their best interests at heart while managing lands in their names.
According to the Department of the Interior, it manages almost 56 million acres of trust lands for federally recognized native people including 100,000 leases on those lands for housing, logging, farming, easements and oil and gas drilling. The agency also manages 2,500 native trust accounts.
The government bought the land from Indians, but it didn’t pay the Indians, staff attorney with the Native American Rights Fund Melody McCoy, who handled 13 of the cases just settled, tells Hersher. The U.S. government would say it held the assets in trusts benevolently, for the protection of Indian lands and money. The flip side of that is that in exchange, the government was supposed to be a good trustee, and it wasnt. Land was not managed well. Money and resources were not managed well.
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I: An Examination Of The Native American Employment Rate
The following sections explain that despite making some strides in recovering from a long history of subjugation, American Indians still suffer economically. In particular, they have employment rates far below those of whites, both in the country overall and at the state level. Additionally, Native Americans have lower odds of employment than whites even after accounting for various demographic factors.
The Us Has Lost Not Millions But Billions Of Dollars Belonging To Native Americans
UPDATES IN THE MONITOR
In his testimony
Arizona Senator John McCain, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, bluntly called it “theft from Indian people.”
These men were describing the single largest and longest-lasting financial scandal in history involving the federal government of the United States.
With no other recourse left at their disposal, NARF, along with other attorneys, filed a class action lawsuit in federal district court on June 10 on behalf of more than 300,000 American Indians. The suit charges Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt, Assistant Interior Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs Ada Deer and Secretary of the Treasury Robert Rubin with illegal conduct in regard to the management of Indian money held in trust accounts and managed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
If the lawsuit’s claims are correct, and there’s an overwhelming body of evidence that suggests they are, then the federal government has lost, misappropriated or, in some cases, stolen billions of dollars from some of its poorest citizens.
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In Many Instances It Provides The Only Life
Echohawk’s claim
As an example, during one such hearing — a 1987 Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on uncollected royalties — then director of the Minerals Management Service William Bettenberg told the committee he was aware that hundreds of millions of dollars that belonged to Indians was going uncollected from oil royalties each year. This is in spite of the fact that MMS, a branch of the Department of the Interior, had been made aware of the annual lost revenue six years earlier. Bettenberg’s revelation is typical of BIA behavior.
Adding still more credence to Echohawk’s claims of government incompetence pertaining to the IIM accounts is the recent example provided by the long overdue audit of the tribal trust funds. These tribal funds, which are also managed by the BIA, are a collection of approximately 2,000 tribal accounts owned by some 200 tribes. These accounts hold about $2.3 billion at any given time and are primarily used to finance essential tribal government services.
Several years ago, after a decade of extensive pressure from the House Committee on Government Operations, the BIA agreed to contract with Arthur Anderson & Co. to audit and reconcile both the tribal accounts and a random sampling of some 17,000 IIM accounts. The sampling of the IIM accounts was to be a precursor to a complete reconciliation of all IIM trust accounts — the first in history.
