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Joey Dolan
Professor Connelly
English 261
27 November 2016
Revised Draft
Poverty is a worldwide topic that involves everyone, even if you aren't profiled as poor,
or poverty-stricken. In most of the poor countries in the world near and in the northern half of
Africa, its dry and hot, which makes it hard for the people living there to harvest food. Its also
hard for them because they are thought to be the origin of HIV and AIDS, and they don't have
access to the technology or the money to help prevent future problems. But poverty doesnt exist
in Africa alone, it happens everywhere, some at larger scales, such as the Central African
Republic mentioned above, and others at minimal scales, like the United Kingdom.
People think that The United States is pretty well off as a whole, but our Native American
Reservations are some of the poorest places in the nation. According to Rachel L. Mathers,
assistant professor in the Department of Accounting, Economics, and Finance in the College of
Business at Delaware State University, The 2000 U.S. census reveals that the median income
per capita for American Indians is less than half that of all U.S. citizens. Poverty levels among
American Indians are more than twice the poverty level for the United States as a whole
(Mathers 1). The inhabitants of these reservations are terribly poor, and they have the worst
economy statuses in the entire U.S... Its sad to see all these people suffer because they don't
have beneficial economies. In Preface to 'What Economic Factors Most Concern Native
Americans?, the writer states that, The portion of Native American communities living in

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poverty on reservations has been consistently as high as 25 percent, with unemployment on the
Blackfoot reservation in Montana at times exceeding 69 percent. Experts explain that decade
after decade of extreme poverty, combined with physical isolation and the destruction of Native
American culture, has resulted in widespread depression, alcoholism, drug addiction, and a
suicide rate that in a 2004 report by the US Commission on Civil Rights is posted as 190 percent
of the national average and rising. Whats happening in these communities is scary and
demotivating for those that are apart of them. It is very difficult to imagine living in that type of
environment twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. It can also be a very intense
environment, because of all the people that scavenge for food, and because of all of the homeless
people who wander around in the reservations.
I find this topic interesting because it is not normally looked into. My aim is to focus on
spreading awareness about this situation because it is progressively getting worse every day.
Without a plan to improve their living standards, they will only continue to worsen. By
exploiting what is going on, people can use the information provided to create ideas and
formulate plans to alleviate this growing distress. Their economy is deteriorating, and as a result,
the amount of job opportunities are decreasing. Once we are able to find a solution for the
devastating poverty in Native American Reservations, the percentages of suicides will begin to
decline and average household income will increase. It will take a huge amount of weight off my
chest when our native people are living more positive lives and are not continuing to have these
unnecessary hardships distracting them from what is important, which is working and helping
each other to create a community of thriving and happy people. I believe that Native Americanowned casinos should fund their reservations to assist them in rebuilding their economy. By

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doing so, suicide rates would decline, jobs would be easier to obtain, and resources such as food
would be easier for families to obtain.
The College of the Sequoias data base is where most of my information came from, I
chose academic journals because they are very reliable and very information filled. If this
proposal were to become a research paper I would go to some Reservations and interview some
of the community leaders, and the citizens of the Reservation and get their perspective on what is
actually happening. By doing this I would have solid facts and opinions from the Native
Americans and get some suggestions from them, so I don't just do something that they dont
want without asking them. I would also delve deeper into the database and find more facts on the
matter, so my research will be solid.
The suicide rates in the Reservations are outrageous. It honestly is sad, that's one of the
biggest reasons I wrote this, but also their status of money the average family gets. It makes me
thankful for what I have, and feel bad for what I take for granted.

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Works Cited
Mathers, Rachel L. "The Failure Of State-Led Economic Development On American Indian
Reservations." Independent Review 17.1 (2012): 65-80. Academic Search Premier. Web. 3 Dec.
2016.
"Preface to 'What Economic Factors Most Concern Native Americans?'." Native Americans. Ed.
Lynn M. Zott. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2012. Opposing Viewpoints. Web. 5 Dec. 2016.

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