Native Americans: The American Indian Today

• Published in: The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 1981-03, Vol.454 (1), p.139-149
• Main Author: Deloria, Vine
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Age; American Indian education; Censuses; Cities; Energy resources; Ethnic/Ethnically; Indian culture; Indians; Native Americans; Rural populations; Society, The, of; Treaty lands; United States/US; Urban populations
• ISSN: 0002-7162; 1552-3349
• DOI: 10.1177/000271628145400112

American Indians have finally emerged into public consciousness as a distinct minority group. Both government policies in the postwar decades and personal choices have produced a large urban Indian population and have increased economic and political opportunities for reservation Indians. The social welfare programs of the sixties were in general ill-conceived because they were amendments to larger pieces of national legislation and were often unsuited to the needs and capabilities of reservation Indians. Education in particular has become a mixture of programs that serves few Indians well. Higher education has become a routine and badly administered field that produces little of value for American Indians. Recent political slogans such as tribal sovereignty have made some inroads into the traditional federal relationship, but in general the term has been misunderstood and misused. Energy needs have made Indian natural resources an important area for Indian concern. Two basic philosophies compete to attract Indian allegiance: development according to traditional means with royalty income and futuristic agricultural projects that create minimum disruption and exploitation. Indians stand at the cross-roads in identifying and establishing their relationship to the institutions of the larger society.