wfn.org | Booklet sets record straight on Native Americans

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

March 23, 1999 News media contact: Tim Tanton*(615)742-5470*Nashville, Tenn.
10-21-34-71B{155}
 
NOTE: This story may be used as a sidebar to UMNS #154.

PHILADELPHIA, Miss. (UMNS) - Only about one-third of all Native American
tribes have gaming, and the number of Indian communities that are becoming
wealthy from it is small.

Those facts debunk some widely held misconceptions about gambling on Native
American reservations. They are spelled out in a new publication, "Dancing
With a Brave Spirit: Telling the Truth About Native America," which is going
to be sent to members of Congress through the United Methodist Church.

The booklet was enthusiastically reviewed and endorsed by the Native
American Economic Development and Empowerment Task Force during its March
19-20 meeting in Philadelphia. The task force praised author Ray Buckley,
who is director of the Native American Communications Office at United
Methodist Communications in Nashville, Tenn.

In addition to sending the booklet to members of Congress, the task force
will include a cover letter to United Methodist lawmakers who receive it.
The publication, which is a special edition of the periodical Voices, will
also be distributed to ministries of the United Methodist Board of Church
and Society, conference offices, Conference Committees on Native American
Ministries chair people, and Indian congregations and ministries. 

Other facts contained in "Dancing With a Brave Spirit":

*	"Native gaming represents about 8 percent of the total revenues from
gaming in the United States. Nearly half of the $6.4 billion earned through
Native gaming is from the six largest tribes, which are generally located
near urban areas."

*	Most Indians who benefit from per capita income off the casinos
receive less than $1,500 a year.

*	"Nearly 60 percent of all Native people in the United States live in
urban areas. They pay the same taxes as other American citizens."

*	Unemployment among Native Americans is at 15 percent, about three
times the national average.

*	Indians are "the poorest of all Americans. Misinformation, based on
gaming revenues from a handful of wealthy tribes, results in underfunding of
programs for the vast majority of Native people who live in desperate
conditions."

*	Native people suffer violent crimes at two and a half times the
national average. "Homicide rates have increased 80 percent since 1992, and
youth suicide has risen dramatically on rural reservations."

*	Substance abuse and resulting addiction, which are widespread
problems in Native communities, "have deep roots in the Indian policies of
our governments." 

*	"Strongly linked to substance abuse and addiction is an increase in
child abuse among Native people." Reports of child abuse and neglect among
Indians increased 18 percent between 1992 and 1995.

*	The federal government relates only to tribes as sovereign nations,
and does not relate to Native people as racial/ethnic groups. The United
States has 554 federally recognized tribes. Qualifying for membership in a
federally recognized tribe is a complicated process, and it varies from
tribe to tribe. As a result of those inconsistencies, more than 500,000
people who are primarily of Native blood and are from federally recognized
tribes don't actually have status in those tribes. That means that that they
are denied membership and benefits.

*	"Native people have fought in every war since the Revolutionary War.
One out of every four Native men is a veteran."

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