Indian poverty and professional rates are the same

WASHINGTON — In a telling illustration of how poverty and low-paying
employment go together, government data show that 24 percent of American
Indians live in poverty.

The numbers were released by the U.S. Census Bureau as part of a snapshot
of Indian conditions in connection with the annual November American Indian
and Alaska Native Heritage Month.

The bureau gave the 24 percent poverty rate for Indians and Alaska Natives
based on a three-year average for the years 2002 — ’04.

No surprise, then, given the low penetration of the upper echelons of the
work force, that the bureau also reported that 29 percent of all Native
people have no health insurance, based on a three-year average.

Median income for Indians and Alaska Natives was a low $33,132 for 2002 —
’04, the government agency reported. Median means there are equal numbers
of people both above and below this income level.

Coincidentally, it also said 24 percent of Indians and Alaska Natives age
16 and above work “in management, professional and related occupations.”

Native entrepreneurship remains on the rise, with more than 206,000
businesses that were Native-owned as of 2002. However, the vast majority of
them, more than 181,000, had just one employee: the proprietor.

Native businesses took in $26.4 billion in 2002, according to the Census
Bureau. But the 25,000 firms that had more than one employee took in the
vast majority of the money, $21.2 billion, or about $850,000 per firm.

Single entrepreneurships split $5.2 billion, or just $28,700 per firm.
Interestingly, this is below the nationwide median income for Native
households.

The bureau said retail and construction firms took in the most money, and
that Native firms also were concentrated in the service industries. Eight
percent of companies in Alaska were Native-owned, as well as 5 percent in
New Mexico and Oklahoma.

The bureau found that 76 percent of Natives age 25 and older have high
school degrees, and just 14 percent have a college degree. Homeownership
was measured at “nearly” 60 percent, or nearly 10 percent lower than the
nation as a whole.

The bureau noted that 381,000 people speak a Native language at home, with
the most — 178,014 — speaking the Navajo language.

Of the 4.4 million counted as at least partly American Indian in the 2000
Census, the bureau counted 549,299 families. Sixty-one percent were
married-couple families, and 55 percent had children under 18.

California remains the most populous state for Natives by far, at 687,400
as of July 1, 2004, the government said. At 398,200, Oklahoma was second;
and Arizona, with 322,200, took the bronze and added the most Natives
during the year prior to July 1, 2004 — 6,400. Florida and Texas were the
next two states with most additions to their Native populations, by 5,300
and 4,500, respectively.

Los Angeles County remains the nation’s most Native-inhabited by
population, with 153,500 as of July 1, 2004. Maricopa County, Ariz. (which
includes Phoenix) added the most Natives of any county in the country
during the year — 3,000.

Alaska remains the state with the highest percentage of Native people,
nearly 20 percent. Oklahoma and New Mexico have about 11 percent each.

The government is moving to separate Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders
into a separate category, so it will be interesting to see when the bureau
starts to compile true Native numbers including these Natives in with
Indians and Alaska Natives in their snapshot totals. Recent Home Mortgage
Disclosure Act figures for 2004, for instance, separated Native Hawaiians
from the “Asian” category for the first time.

“American Indian Days” have been celebrated in parts of the country in
November since 1916; Pres. George H.W. Bush signed the first proclamation
for a national heritage month in 1990, which has been celebrated each year
since 1994.