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Native American reservation inequality underlies a range of societal issues that affect the lives of Native American populations residing on reservations in the United States. About one third of the Native American population, about 700,000 people, lives on an Indian Reservation in the United States. Reservation poverty and other discriminatory factors have led to persisting social inequality on Native American reservations. Disparities between many aspects of life at the national level and at the reservation level, such as quality of education, quality of healthcare, substance use disorders, teenage pregnancy, violence, and suicide rates are significant in demonstrating the inequality of opportunities and situations between reservations and the rest of the country. Historical discrimination Many contemporary disparities are rooted in the violence of colonialism. The reservation system was created following the expansion of the United States into tribal lands throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, during United States territorial acquisitions. This effort started with the Indian Appropriations Act of 1887, which created the first reservations. Education The Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (ISDEAA) resulted from culminating civil rights movements and calls for increased attention on Native American Affairs. According to the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), the act "gave authority to federally recognized tribes to contract with the BIA for the operation of Bureau-funded schools and to determine education programs suitable for their children." Later federal educational amendments furthered the capabilities of reservation schools and "provided funds directly to tribally operated schools, empowered Indian school boards, permitted local hiring of teachers and staff," and more. Contemporary reservation school situations Schools on Native American reservations are disproportionately underachieving compared to other schools. According to a report made to the U.S. Department of Education "only 17% of tribally controlled schools made Annual Yearly Progress under No Child Left Behind during the 2007-2008 school year." Much of the reasoning for this discrepancy is because of the widespread and disproportionate amount of reservation poverty. Consequently, "students from low socioeconomic families face unique academic challenges, as their families may lack access to the resources and socialization experiences necessary to adequately prepare and support student achievement in school" Furthermore, "the lack of academically successful role models and the need to provide additional financial support to the family contributed to the high number of dropouts among Native American students who live in poverty." Both student and teacher attrition are major issues in reservation schools as well. Censuses have demonstrated the trend in reservation schools that, "despite a growth in population... enrollment in grades 1 through 12 has steadily declined..." The High School dropout rate for Native Americans is high, much higher than the national average, and as quoted in a UCLA Civil Rights project report, "Native students "...have a dropout rate twice the national average; the highest dropout rate of any United States ethnic or racial group. About three out of every ten Native students drop out of school before graduating from high school both on reservations and in cities (p. 1)."" Teachers are also remarkably and especially difficult to retain at reservation schools, which creates problems with regularity in the classroom and many administrative difficulties as well. There are many reasons for poor teacher retention, mainly problems in "poverty, hunger, ignorance, and disease", as Reyhner's Teaching American Indian Students book argues, that discourage teachers when students are unable or unwilling to perform or even come to school. One of the implications of high teacher turnover is the lack of administrative stability it causes. Administrative stability is very important to long-range planning and crucial to the success of the school and its students. Healthcare Healthcare on Native American reservations faces many barriers to success. Genetic predisposition to many diseases as well as significant lack of government funding, lack of medical resources, and isolation from more populated areas with more medical resources, contribute to healthcare difficulties on reservations. Genetic predisposition Native Americans have a biological genetic predisposition to be especially susceptible to several diseases and ailments. According to a 1997 study, "with the exception of cardiovascular diseases and cancer, the risk of death from most causes are higher among Native Americans than the total US population." Diabetes mellitus is an especially large factor in Native American healthcare. Studies show that "rates of diabetes and its complications…are substantially higher among Native Americans than among the US general population, and the frequency of diabetes among Native Americans is increasing." This increase is proposed to be based upon, as the same study states, "several potentially modifiable factors, including obesity, dietary composition, and physical inactivity." It is estimated that diabetes afflicts 40%-50% of adults in Native American communities, compared with the national average of around 8%. Multiple studies, including one presented in the American Journal of Epidemiology, describe the incidence of diabetes in the Pima Indians to be 19 times greater than a comparable white majority population. However, more than genetic predisposition plays a significant role the afflictions of Native American populations. According to the 1997 study, "genetic susceptibility plays a significant role in some diseases, such as diabetes, while for others, the generally lower socioeconomic status, higher prevalence of certain health risk behaviors and lower utilization of preventative services in the Native American population are important determinants." Also, before WWII, diabetes in Native American Communities was essentially non-existent. Because the traditional way of life had been taken away from the Native Americans, a domino effect of problems began to arise. During a normal day of hunting, gathering, and normal activities, the pre-reservation Indians expended approximately 4,000 calories a day, while eating a high fiber, low fat diet. After the reservation system went into effect, Indians were no longer able to hunt or gather food, but expected to farm in a community that at certain places had no water source, or there was no money to buy supplies for a farm in the first place, which led to more poverty. Poverty led to poor eating habits, which led to diseases such as diabetes mellitis. After the Indian Removal Act of 1830, subsequent treaties arose, such as the Dawes Act of 1887, which broke up reservations into smaller pieces. In 1868, the Federal Government establish.... Discover the C R Johansson popular books. Find the top 100 most popular C R Johansson books.