Title: 13 Issues Facing Native People Beyond Mascots And Casinos | HuffPost
Headings: 13 Issues Facing Native People Beyond Mascots And Casinos
13 Issues Facing Native People Beyond Mascots And Casinos
Native Americans face issues of mass incarceration and policing.
Native communities are often impoverished and jobless.
The federal government is still stripping Native people of their land.
Exploitation of natural resources threatens Native communities.
Violence against women and children is especially prevalent in Native communities.
The education system is failing Native students.
Native families live in overcrowded, poor-quality housing.
Native patients receive inadequate health care.
There’s a dearth of capital and financial institutions in Native communities.
Native Americans have the right to vote... but that’s not always enough.
There is an epidemic of youth suicide in Native communities.
Native languages are dying, and the U.S. government is doing little to help.
Many Native communities do not have their rights recognized by the federal government.
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Content: If a crime is thought to have occurred on a Native reservation or within a Native community, it’s not always clear which agency is going to be in charge of prosecution. That’s determined by a complex set of factors, including the severity of the charges and the races of the victims and alleged perpetrators. The overlapping jurisdictions of federal and tribal sovereignty also mean that Indians who commit crimes on tribal lands can be punished twice for the same offense: once under federal jurisdiction and again in tribal court. Lastly, aside from cases of domestic violence, tribal courts are not allowed to try major crimes as defined under the Major Crimes Act. This means that suspects in most felony cases are prosecuted in federal courts, where sentencing tends to be more severe. Download
In February, building off the momentum of Black Lives Matter, the Lakota Peoples’ Law Project released its “ Native Lives Matter “ report, which gives an overview of the inequities faced by Native Americans in the criminal justice system. The report, like the voices of Native peoples in general, has been largely ignored in the growing national conversation about policing and criminal justice reform. Native communities are often impoverished and jobless. Native peoples suffer from high rates of poverty and unemployment.