[wg-c] FYI EPA Indian Statistics.

[Eric Brunner <brunner@world.std.com>]

It being Armistice Day, I'm using my two-per-day letters to teach, or at
least leave in the DNSO record two attempts to do so.

The second one (this), is from one of the lists in which the participants  
share a central concern over the access issue to basic POTS service in
Indian Country (US only), and consequent to access to POTS, to advanced
services, data included.

The following summary of the material condition of Indian Country is from
the EPA American Indian Heritage Month Committee, the terminology they
employ is American, and they do not consider urban Indians, nor those in
Canada or Mexico. The bottom line is less than 1% are currently served by
packet-data information services in the US, and less in the two adjacent
states. We'd like to change that.

Enjoy,
Eric
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Did You Know...?

There are approximately 2.4 million American Indians in the United States
(almost 1% of the U.S. population) (Census Bureau, June 1999).

There are 556 federally-recognized Tribes (December 1998 BIA list).

There are 314 reservations, the smallest is the Likely Rancheria in
California with under 2 acres and the largest is Navajo with about 16 million
acres in Arizona, Utah and New Mexico. There are also Tribes without land
bases, such as the Ponca of Nebraska and the Lytton Rancheria in California.
22% of the American Indian population lives on reservations and trust lands.

The smallest Tribe, the Augustine Band of Mission Indians in California, has
a population of one. The largest Tribe, Cherokee, has a population of about
308,000. 39% of the American Indian population is under the age of 20 (29%
for total U.S. population). 8% of the American Indian population is over 60
years old (17% for total U.S. population).

American Indians tend to have larger families than the average. About 80% of
American Indians live in extended-family households.

34% of American Indians over age 25 never graduated from high school. 9% of
American Indians have a bachelor's degree or higher (3% have graduate or
professional degrees). The unemployment rate among American Indians is 14%
(6% for total U.S.  population). One-third of the American Indian households
lives below the poverty level (Census Bureau, 1995).

In 1996, 67% of the Tribes had no gaming operations. Of the Tribes that did
have gaming, 10 of them earned more than 50% of the gaming income (GAO, A
Profile of the Indian Gaming Industry, May 1997).

Of the American Indian households located on reservations, 20% lack complete
plumbing facilities (hot and cold piped water, a flush toilet, and a bathtub
or shower). 11% lack complete plumbing and are also crowded (more than 1
person per room). About 1 in 5 disposed of sewage by means other than public
sewer, septic tank, or cesspool (e.g., outhouse, chemical toilet). 18% do not
have complete kitchens (piped water, a range or cookstove, and refrigerator).
1 in every 3 used wood to heat their home.

In rural areas, 12% of Native households lack electricity and 23% lack gas
(EDA 1999). Only 39% of rural households in Native communities have telephones
compared to 94% for non-Native rural communities (EDA Assessment of Technology
Infrastructure in Native Communities, June 1999). Of rural Native households,
only 22% have cable television, 9% have personal computers, and of those,
only 8% have Internet access (EDA 1999).

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