Indian Country's need profound
A Harvard University study looking at "Indian Country" -- tribes on reservations throughout the United States -- reviewed 2000 U.S. Census data and found:
• Real per capita income of Indians living in Indian Country was less than half the level for the U.S. overall.
• Real median household income for Indians in Indian Country was little more than half the U.S. level.
• Unemployment was more than twice the U.S. rate.
• The proportion of American Indian adults who were college graduates was less than half the proportion for the U.S. overall.
"Poverty is a way of life for many -- most, actually -- American Indians and Alaskan Natives in the United States," said Jo Ann Kauffman, a Nez Perce Indian and president and CEO of Kauffman and Associates. It's a company based in The Spokane, Wash.,-based company works primarily with federal agencies on Native American issues.
"We still have the highest rates of suicide among youths," said Columba Quintero, executive director of the Torres-Martinez tribal welfare program.
"Those are the things that trickle down among generations. If there's a history of domestic violence or drug abuse, the next generation is still dealing with those issues."
With the country in an overall economic decline, the need for programs like Tribal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families is becoming even stronger on American Indian reservations, said National Council of American Indians legislative associate Cinda Hughes, a member of the Kiowa Tribe in Oklahoma, at the council's annual convention in Palm Springs in October.
"It seems that it is always the most vulnerable members of our tribes that suffer the most," she said.
"We know how important it is for people; how important it is for our families -- so that they can have the opportunity to stay together; so that they can have the opportunity to try to improve their quality of life and to become self-sufficient."
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“Our People Helping Our People” is the motto of the Torres-Martinez Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program.
The program is intended to address many issues surrounding the poverty, unemployment and other social challenges on the Torres-Martinez reservation and confronting American Indians elsewhere in Riverside and Los Angeles counties.
“We go from very remote to very urban, in Los Angeles,” said Columba Quintero, the program's executive director.
The need is indisputable. The Torres-Martinez has unemployment and school dropout rates near 60 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
“We're trying to break the cycle of poverty; the cycle of addiction,” Quintero said.
The program provides cash assistance, employment assistance and promotes two-parent families and teenage pregnancy prevention.
Help can range from providing access to transportation for clients on remote reservations, job training, educational grants or tutoring, and youth programs.
Elders and other professionals speak to groups of Indian youth, and the children go on field trips designed to inspire them, Quintero said.
The program provides cash incentives for students achieving Bs and As in school, and to couples who marry and partake in traditional ceremonies.
“Part of our program is preserving the cultures,” Quintero said. “Because our languages are dying. You see kids in the Los Angeles area identifying with gangs, with rap culture.
“We work on really teaching them who they are, where they come from, what their ancestors did. They also work on the regalia, like you see in powwows. There is significance to all of that.”
Assistance programs are available to those whose income is 130 percent of the federal poverty level or less. Non-assistance programs, such as those promoting two-parent families and discouraging teenage pregnancy, are available to those making up to 300 percent of the poverty limit, Quintero said.
Clients must work or undertake other approved activities, such as attending school or caring for a child or elder family member, 30 hours per week.
Clients are eligible for assistance for up to five years. In areas where unemployment is above 50 percent that limit is waived, Quintero said.
Indian Country's need profound
A Harvard University study looking at “Indian Country” — tribes on reservations throughout the United States — reviewed 2000 U.S. Census data and found:
Real per capita income of Indians living in Indian Country was less than half the level for the U.S. overall.
Real median household income for Indians in Indian Country was little more than half the U.S. level.
Unemployment was more than twice the U.S. rate.
The proportion of American Indian adults who were college graduates was less than half the proportion for the U.S. overall.
“Poverty is a way of life for many — most, actually — American Indians and Alaskan Natives in the United States,” said Jo Ann Kauffman, a Nez Perce Indian and president and CEO of Kauffman and Associates. The Spokane, Wash.,-based company works primarily with federal agencies on Native American issues.
“We still have the highest rates of suicide among youths,” said Columba Quintero, executive director of the Torres-Martinez tribal welfare program.
“Those are the things that trickle down among generations. If there's a history of domestic violence or drug abuse, the next generation is still dealing with those issues.”
With the country in an overall economic decline, the need for programs like Tribal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families is becoming even stronger on American Indian reservations, said National Council of American Indians legislative associate Cinda Hughes, a member of the Kiowa Tribe in Oklahoma, at the council's annual convention in Palm Springs in October.
“It seems that it is always the most vulnerable members of our tribes that suffer the most,” she said.
“We know how important it is for people; how important it is for our families — so that they can have the opportunity to stay together; so that they can have the opportunity to try to improve their quality of life and to become self-sufficient.”
Keith Matheny
