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The past three decades have seen American Indians and Alaskan Natives-collectively referred to as Native Americans here-make the first widespread economic gains since their territories were incorporated within the United States. This unprecedented growth correlates strongly with increased tribal autonomy and is not primarily due to the growth of tribal casinos.
The federal government historically dominated nearly every aspect of tribal life, from the exercise of religion and cultural practices to land tenure and the structure of tribal government. Moreover, with the exception of a brief, protribal interregnum under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, U.S. policy has generally aimed to eliminate tribal governments.
Native American activism rose quietly in parallel to other civil rights movements in the 1960s, reaching a crescendo in the early 1970s with the occupation of Alcatraz (1969), the Trail of Broken Treaties and takeover of the Bureau of Indian Affairs offices (1972), and the siege at Wounded Knee (1973). These and other protests, for the first time, focused the nation's attention on the political oppression and poverty in tribal areas.
President Richard Nixon reacted to this Native American activism in 1970 by repudiating past antitribal policies. He also formally identified tribal government as the appropriate form of government in Indian country, adopting a policy of "tribal self-determination." Congress followed suit, increasing funding for Native American services and enacting the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975 (Self-Determination Act) and other legislation. The Self-Determination Act entitles tribes and intertribal consortia to take over administration of federal programs for the benefit of their members through "self-determination contracts" with the Departments of the Interior and of Health and Human Services.
Tribes experienced the beneficial economic effects of increased appropriations and the Self-Determination Act almost immediately. Per capita income on reservations rose from $4,300 in 1970 to $6,500 in 1980 (in year-2000 dollars), and poverty fell from 57 percent of families to 43 percent. Congress cut funding by one-third in the 1980s, however, and reservation family poverty increased to 51 percent while incomes increased a scant $500 by 1990. By contrast, per capita income for all Americans rose steadily from $13,000 in 1970 to $19,400 in 1990, and family poverty remained fairly constant between 13.7 percent in 1969 and 13.1 percent in 1989.
Two decades...