This booklet provides an overview of the labor market problems facing Indians and Native Americans, the most economically disadvantaged ethnic group in the United States. It summarizes Indian policy, particularly major policies and laws that relate to early trade restrictions and the exploitation of Indians through trade; their forced removal from their land; establishment of the reservation system, land allotments, and assimilation; termination and relocation policy; and the more recent policies of self-determination. Discussion considers Indian population and labor force estimates and examines barriers to Indian employment. Lack of jobs on or near reservations is the greatest problem, but poor education and training, inadequate English language capability, tribal ties to the reservation, a culture that is not job-oriented, and poor housing and health conditions, and inadequate transportation are also cited. There are many federal programs for Indians, ranging from housing assistance, to health and transportation services, to education and training for jobs. A number of these programs are listed. But the report suggests that a high degree of overlap and fragmentation of federal programs hampers their effectiveness among Indians. Coordination of federal programs and further federal research, especially on effectiveness of JTPA programs, are recommended. This report contains 25 references. (DHP).

This booklet provides an overview of the labor market problems facing Indians and Native Americans, the most economically disadvantaged ethnic group in the United States. It summarizes Indian policy, particularly major policies and laws that relate to early trade restrictions and the exploitation of Indians through trade; their forced removal from their land; establishment of the reservation system, land allotments, and assimilation; termination and relocation policy; and the more recent policies of self-determination. Discussion considers Indian population and labor force estimates and examines barriers to Indian employment. Lack of jobs on or near reservations is the greatest problem, but poor education and training, inadequate English language capability, tribal ties to the reservation, a culture that is not job-oriented, and poor housing and health conditions, and inadequate transportation are also cited. There are many federal programs for Indians, ranging from housing assistance, to health and transportation services, to education and training for jobs. A number of these programs are listed. But the report suggests that a high degree of overlap and fragmentation of federal programs hampers their effectiveness among Indians. Coordination of federal programs and further federal research, especially on effectiveness of JTPA programs, are recommended. This report contains 25 references. (DHP).

Too little sociological attention has been paid to questions surrounding the inequalities and deprivation experienced by American Indians. Integrating insights from American Indian history and the race and labor market inequality literatures, I address this gap in this dissertation through a historically-informed labor market analysis of American Indian underemployment, unemployment, income, and poverty - an analysis that gauges how the spatial dispersion of Native inequality across each of these outcomes is shaped by two major demographic and economic shifts: 1) the rapid urbanization of the Native population and resulting heterogeneity in the labor contexts in which Native Americans now reside, and; 2) the proliferation of tribally owned casinos. My analyses draw on novel two-tiered data that embed individual Natives and Non-Hispanic Whites from the 2007-2011 American Community Survey within the local labor markets in which they reside. This allows for comparison of American Indian versus White labor market and socioeconomic inequalities across localities and labor market contexts. A key nuance to this data is its capacity to not only quantify the effect of general local labor market conditions, but also to gauge the effect of the presence of Native-owned casinos. Noteworthy among my findings is the enduring and incredibly rigid nature of American Indian labor market and poverty disadvantages in the U.S.-disadvantages largely unaffected by residence and variations in general labor market opportunity. The inclusion of tribal casino presence, in conjunction with interactions with locality type, shows moderate inequality reductions, though hardly enough to compensate for the significant race/ethnic deprivation that we find across the U.S. I conclude by discussing the relevance/irrelevance of traditional labor market opportunity conceptions for American Indians, the pertinence of Native-controlled employment avenues, and how future sociological scholarship on the topic might effectively move forward.

"Describes how Native American tribes can strengthen sovereignty, property rights, and the rule of law to better integrate into modern economies, building a foundation for self-sufficiency and restoring dignity"--