XII. Socio-Economic Inequities Suffered
by
California Indians
As the
preceding sections indicate, California Indians have endured a history of
under-funding and under-administration.
Although BIA and federal funding are not the sole factors that affect
the livelihood of California Indians, such under-attention might result in
poorer employment rates, less income, less education, and worse housing
conditions when compared to national Indian rates. It is well known and documented that American Indians are
among the poorest of the poor when compared with other ethnic and racial groups
in the United States. For example,
in the 1980 census, 56 percent of Native Americans finished high school
compared with 67 percent of U.S. people from all races. In 1990, median household income for
Native Americans was $20,025, down from $20, 542 in the 1980 census, indicating
that Indians lost ground in household income during the 1980s. Only Blacks with a 1990 median household
income of $19,758 ranked lower that American Indians, while Whites ($31,435),
Asians ($36,784), and Hispanics ($24,156) ranked higher. The 1990 census shows that American
Indians were greatly impoverished, with 30.9 percent living below the poverty
line, compared with 9.8 percent of Whites, 14.1 percent of Asians, 25.3 percent
of Hispanics, and 29.5 percent of Blacks.
Even higher rates of American Indian children were living below the
poverty line, 37.6%, while 12.3 percent of White children, 38.8 percent of
Black children, 16.6 percent of Asian children, and 31.0 percent of Hispanic
children were living below the poverty line. In 1980, 32.5 percent of American Indian children were
living in poverty, and so the decade of the 1980s indicates a deteriorating
economic position for American Indian people and children. According to the 1980 census, the
American Indian unemployment rate was 13 percent, while the 1990 census
American Indian unemployment rate was 25.6 percent. Consequently, in recent years, Indian unemployment rates
were 4 to 5 times higher than national rates for the early 1990s, and certainly
at least double depression level unemployment. During the 1980s, the overall unemployment rate for
reservation and trust land Indians doubled, again indicating a deteriorating
economic position for Native Americans in recent years.
While
comparisons of American Indian socio-economic conditions with national or other
groups indicates relatively poor conditions for Indians, California Indians
show even worse socio-economic rates on many indicators. The relatively worse socio-economic
conditions of California Indians may well be the result of years of
administrative inattention and under-funding. While American Indians as a group are among the worst off in
the United States, indigenous California Indians are generally worse off than
other Indians, and therefore are poor within one of the poorest groups in the
nation. The following figures
indicate that indigenous California Indians have suffered in social-economic
well-being relative to other Indian groups in other states, not to mention when
compared with the rest of the nation.
Employment
Several
sources for employment statistics were examined for California Indians. Census data, BIA labor force
statistics, and self reports from surveys all provide somewhat different
comparative views of unemployment rates between California Indians and other
Indians. BIA labor force
statistics are collected by self-reports from tribal groups under close supervision
by BIA administrators. These data
were collected on Indians living on or near Indian reservations or trust lands.
Unemployment
BIA
Labor Force Statistics
National California
Indian
Indian
unemployment % Unemployment
%
1965 52% 53%
1966 46 37
1967 40 46
1968 39 28
1969 44 23
1970 40 49
1971 39 48
1972 40 50
1973 37 49
1977 26 35
1985 39 55
1987 38 47
1989 40 38
1991 35 36
1993 37 41
Source: BIA Labor Force Statistics, central
office.
The
first issue to note from the preceding table is that the overall Indian
unemployment rate for 1989-93 is in the 37-40 percent range, nearly twice the
unemployment rate recorded for American Indians in the 1990 census. These data indicate that the BIA
service population is much worse off than the Indian population measured by the
Census Bureau. Based on the 15
years for which there are data, California Indian unemployment rates are higher
than other Indians in 11 out of 15 years.
Over the last decade, California Indians have had higher unemployment
rates than other Indians in 4 out of 5 years recorded. Consequently, California Indians appear
to be generally worse off in employment than other BIA-administered
Indians. In particular, California
Indians have been relatively worse off in employment over the last decade as
compared to other BIA-administered Indians.
A second
set of California Indian unemployment rates derives from 1990 census data based
on 79 reservations and rancherias.
These data indicate that 24.8 percent of California Indians were
unemployed, while the unemployment rate for all Indian reservations was 25.6
percent. Both numbers are far
lower than BIA statistics, and in these data California Indians have a slightly
lower unemployment rate than other reservation Indians, although still having a
rate nearly five times the level of national U.S. unemployment.
As part
of our task force’s effort to better understand California unemployment
trends, our team analyzed a 5 percent sample drawn from the 1990 census data
for rural California Indians who were 18 years or older. This analysis yielded an unemployment
rate of 10.3 percent for rural California Indians over 18 years old, and
compares with an unemployment rate of 9.46 percent for non-California Indians
who were 18 years or older. Thus
rural California Indians have a higher unemployment rate than rural Indians in
other states.
Our own
1995 survey data provide
self-reports from 27 California Indian communities. The surveyed Indian communities estimated unemployment in
the 15 percent to 90 percent range, with a median unemployment rate of 30
percent. The self-report survey
indicates wide variation in perceived unemployment among California Indian
communities and records that most California Indians believe their unemployment
rates are high.
California
Indians have unemployment rates near or above the rates of other Indian
communities in the United States.
Most indicators of California Indian unemployment rates demonstrate that
California rates are higher than those of other Indians, and California Indians
believe their unemployment rates are high. California Indians may suffer higher unemployment levels
because they were under-served and under-administered by BIA and federal
programs.
Poverty
Levels
California
Indians have higher rates of poverty than other Indians. Census data from 1990 indicate that poverty rates on California Indian
reservations is 34.1 percent; in
other words, 34.1 percent of California reservation and rancheria households
have incomes below minimum U.S. standards. The 1990 census poverty level for all Indians was 30.9
percent, over three percentage points lower than California Indians.
In a
comparison of rural Indians through a 5 percent sample of the 1990 census data,
28.6 percent of rural California Indians, excluding out-of-state tribes, were
below the poverty line, while 27.8 percent of all non-California Indians were
below the poverty line. Thus rural
California Indians were more impoverished than other Indians.
Our own
survey of 27 California Indian communities, conducted in 1995, provided
self-reports of poverty rates ranging from 18 percent to 100 percent. The median self-reported percentage of
people below the poverty line was 70 percent. California Indians believe that a very high portion of their
community is suffering from financial distress and that their community members
are suffering impoverished life conditions at rates more than twice as high as
the census data report.
California
Indians are more impoverished than other Indians, even though American Indians
are the most impoverished group in the nation. California Indians are among the poorest of the poor. California Indians are well aware of
the poverty within their communities and perceive their poverty to be
considerably higher than indicated by official statistics.
Income
Based on
the 1990 census of 79 California reservations and rancherias, the average of
the reservation/rancheria median incomes was $15,871.43, which is far below the
national Indian median household income of $20,025. The average median for California Indian reservations also
was significantly lower than the $19,758 median household income of Blacks, the
group with the lowest national median income in the 1990 census. Consequently, as a group, California
Indians have one of the lowest income levels of any group in the nation.
The task
force explored California income rates by analyzing a 5 percent sample of the
1990 census. In this analysis,
median household income for rural California Indians was $21,802, while median
household income for all other U.S. Indians was $21,912. The median income for rural California
Indians who were full-time workers was $14,193.50, while the median income for
all other full-time Indian workers was $14,000. The average per capita household income for rural California
Indians was $6,900.42, while for all other Indians the average was
$7,969.16. When rural California
Indians find full-time work, they do slightly better than other Indians, but
because they suffer higher unemployment rates their household incomes are lower
than the household incomes of other Indians.
The
income levels of California Indians are some of the lowest levels of any group
in the nation. California Indian
household income is lower than the household incomes of all other Indians.
Education
Census
data for 1990 indicate that in 79 California reservations and rancherias, the
percentage of high school graduates for 18-24 years old is 34.7 percent, while
the national Indian average for reservations is 35.5 percent. Thus for 18-24 year old, California
Indians are graduating from high school at slightly lower rates. Those California Indians between the
ages of 18 and 24 who have taken some college total 13.4 percent, while 16.9
percent of all Indians in the same age group have attended some college. California Indians in the 18-24 age
graduate from college at a .47 percent rate, or less than one-half of one
percent, while nationally Indians in the same age group graduate from college
at a .53 percent rate, or slightly more than one-half of one percent. These data indicate that reservation
California Indians in the 18-24 age group are less well educated than Indians
in general. Young California
Indians graduate from high school and college at lower rates and fewer years of
college than the national average for American Indians living on reservations.
For
older California Indians, age 25 or above, educational achievement is better
for high school and grade school, but worse in post-high school education, than
other older reservation Indians and the rest of the nation. According to the 1990 census, 2.5
percent of older California Indians have not completed the fifth grade, while
nationally for reservation
Indians, ages 25 or above, 9.5 percent did not complete the fifth grade. Furthermore, 8.5 percent of older
California Indians finished school between the 5th and 8th grades, while for
all older reservation Indians 12 percent finished school between the 5th and
8th grades. Among older California
Indians, 31.5 percent attended some high school but did not gain a diploma,
while 24.4 percent of all older reservation Indians attended some high school
but did not finish. Adding the
latter percentages together yields at total of 42.5 percent of older California
Indians who did not graduate from high school, while 45.9 percent of all older
reservation Indians did not graduate from high school. Similarly, there were 31.7 percent of
older California Indians who finished their education with a high school
diploma, but no additional schooling, while 29.4 percent of all older
reservation Indians graduated from high school but took no additional
educational training. A smaller
proportion of older California reservation Indians than other reservation
Indians finished their education in grade school or did not complete high
school, and a higher percentage finished high school.
In
post-high school education, California Indians of age 25 years or older fare
worse than all other reservation Indians in the same age group. Older California Indians with some
college totaled 7.7 percent, while 15 percent of all Indians attended some
college. Older California Indians
collected two-year occupational degrees at a 2.9 percent rate and two-year
academic degrees at a 2.4 percent rate.
All older reservation Indians collected occupational two-year degrees at
a 4 percent rate, and 1.9 percent collected two-year academic degrees. Older California Indians are obtaining
two-year academic degrees at a higher rate than the average, but are collecting
two-year occupational degrees at a lower pace than average for all older
reservation Indians. Older
California Indians also complete college at a lower rate (1.9 percent) than all
older Native Americans (2.8 percent).
The rate of completion of professional and graduate degrees by all
Native Americans is higher (1.13 percent) than older California Indians, among
whom .8 percent, or less than one percent, complete graduate or professional
degrees. Except for two-year academic
degrees, California Indians over 25 are less well off than the average of all
reservations in completing post-high school education.
Our 5
percent sample of the 1990 census study yielded an average of 11.29 years of
education for rural Indians living in California (aged 25 or over), but excluding
any known non-California tribes, while the average education level for all
other U.S. Indians (aged 25 or over)
was 11.34 years of school.
Consequently, older rural California Indians were on average slightly
less well educated than all other Indians.
In
summary, younger California Indians are less well educated than average
reservation Indians, while older California Indians are better educated at the
precollege level, but less well educated in the post-high school level. California Indians 18 years or over lag
behind national averages of Indians at the post-high school, college and
occupational levels. Older
California Indians do better than the national average for reservations in
obtaining higher levels of grade school and high school education. The fact that younger California
Indians (18-24) are doing worse than the Indian average for that age group
indicates that in recent years less attention has been given to California
Indian education. Younger
California Indians are falling behind other Indians, and are falling further
behind national averages for all people.
Greater attention needs to be given to California youth in order that
they will not fall further behind in education at all levels; more should be
prepared for college and other post-high school training. The under-representation of California
Indians in the ranks of college and professional graduates relative to Indians
as a whole indicates that more attention needs to be directed toward preparing
and assisting California Indians for post-high school training and education.
Household
Characteristics
Each
decade the Census Bureau collects information on housing characteristics, which
in turn indicate the conditions and physical qualities of life within the U.S.
population. In recent years, the
census collects information on complete plumbing, complete kitchens, household
occupancy by ethnicity, access to a vehicle and presence of a telephone in a
household, as well as other types of information. Some of this information can be used as indicators of
economic well-being, and hence we compare California reservation and rancherias
to non-California reservation Indians with respect to household
characteristics.
An
interesting statistic collected by the 1990 census was household occupancy in
American Indian and Alaska Native areas.
While these data are not directly indicative of socio-economic
situation, they can indicate the relative density of Native American tribal
members compared to non-Indians living on reservations and rancherias. More non-Indians living in Indian areas
would indicate potential loss of community control and sovereignty by Indian
communities. Drawing from table 2
of the 1990 census report on characteristics of households, 96 California
Indian reservations and rancherias reported Indian and non-Indian household
occupation rates on Indian land.
Indians occupied 4,107 households out of a total 18,674 households on
California reservations and rancherias.
Thus only 22 percent of the households on California Indian territories
is occupied by Indian families.
The California data, however, are highly skewed by the special
conditions at Agua Caliente, where there are only 52 Indian-owned households
out of 10,546 households. If we
withdraw Agua Caliente from the analysis, then the rate of Indian household
occupancy in California Indian Country is 50 percent, since there are 4,055
Indian-occupied households out of 8,128 households in California Indian
areas. The national rate of Indian
occupancy of households in Indian areas is 45 percent, with 112,615
Indian-occupied households out of 250,065 in Indian Country. Thus if we discount the special case of
Agua Caliente, California Indians as a group occupy 5 percent more households
within their Indian-designated territories than the average national household
occupancy rate for all Indian areas.
Turning
to the characteristics of Indian occupied households, 20.2 percent of Indian
occupied households on reservation and trust land lacked complete plumbing,
17.5 percent lacked complete kitchens, 22.4 percent did not have access to a
vehicle, and 53.4 percent did not have a telephone. Seventy-one California tribes reported the latter household
characteristics representing 4,102 Indian-occupied households. The census reports that 173 (4 percent)
of California Indian homes did not have complete plumbing as compared with 20.2
percent for all Indian-occupied households in Indian areas. There were 165 (4 percent) California
Indian-occupied households that did not have complete kitchens, while 17.5
percent of Indian-occupied households in all Indian reservation areas did not
have complete kitchens. Households
without access to a vehicle totaled 704 (17.2 percent), which is slightly lower
that the national rate (17.5 percent) of Indian households in Indian Country
without access to a vehicle. There
were no telephones in 1,276 (31 percent) California Indian-occupied households,
while 53.4 percent of Indian-occupied homes in Indian Country did not have
telephones. The census data indicate
that California reservation Indian households are better equipped with modern
conveniences than average reservation Indian households.
For all
Indians in California, including non-indigenous California tribes, the median
year their house was built is 1966, while the median year of household
structure construction for all U.S. Indians was 1970. As a group, all Indians living in California occupy somewhat
older household structures than all U.S. Indians.
The task
force’s survey of 27 California Indian communities, however, does not
indicate that California Indians are well satisfied with their present housing
accommodations. Virtually all
responding communities indicated that they were in need of better housing, with
needs ranging from 15 to 214 units, and many needing housing in the 20-30 unit
range. In addition, ACCIP hearings
brought forth additional comments on housing issues. For example, during the September 16, 1994 ACCIP
hearings, the chair of the Morongo
Reservation presented testimony that most tribal housing was substandard, and
that the tribe needed base funds for maintenance and good management.
The 1990
census data indicate that California Indian households do much better than the
national reservation Indian average by having more complete kitchens and
plumbing, slightly more access to vehicles, and more telephones. California Indian communities, however,
still believe their communities are rife with substandard housing structures
and are in need of new housing and administrative and funding capability to
maintain their present housing.
Summary
When compared to non-California reservation Indians,
California Indians have higher rates of poverty, lower household income,
slightly less education, less post-secondary education, and higher rates of
unemployment. Only in household
characteristics do California reservation Indians do better than non-California
reservation Indians. These
combined indices of adverse socio-economic conditions put California
reservation Indians among the lowest socio-economic groups in Indian
Country. Since Indians are already
among the lowest socio-economic groups in the country, California Indians are
among the most economically deprived groups in the nation. The past and present history of
administrative neglect and underfunding most likely has contributed to the
adverse socio-economic position endured by California reservation Indians.