Native American Housing: Disparities Persist and Funding Desists
Feature Story by civilrights.org staff - 9/28/2004
For Native Americans, there seem to be two worlds: One where a new multi-million dollar national museum honors their past and another where millions of dollars are withheld, putting their present and future at risk. According to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, the Department of Housing and Urban Development's budget for Native Americans has decreased, while the department's entire budget has increased by 54 percent.With the opening of the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian in Washington D.C. last week, Native American heritage and traditions received considerable attention. However to many Native Americans, the issues of their communities have not been addressed, or even heard.
At a news conference on September 20, the National American Indian Housing Council (NAIHC) shed light on social, economic, and health problems afflicting Native American communities nationwide.
Rachel Joseph, chairwoman for the Lone Pine Paiute Tribe in California, recounted personal stories of substandard housing conditions from her youth. Joseph said that the housing situation continues to worsen. Homes without insulation, electricity or running water are not uncommon in some areas.
Illness can be directly related to deplorable living conditions in many Native American communities and reservations, Joseph said. The substandard conditions predispose children to a life of economic, social, and health disadvantages.
"Very few places in our nation have children hurting as much as on our Indian reservations," NAIHC Chairman Chester Carl said.
NAIHC presented proposals to improve conditions for Native American communities, including increasing pressure on elected officials. The issue of trust between tribal nations and the federal government remained a clear theme of the NAIHC's proposals.
Carl addressed shortages in funding, pointing out that prison inmates receive $3,803 a year in health care coverage, which Native Americans receive only $1,914.
"It's a crime that the government spends more money for health care for prisoners than it does for Native Americans," Carl said.
Other proposals by NAIHC include comprehensive education briefings and meetings with the National Institutes of Health. NAIHC also hopes the White House will meet with tribal groups in order to address living conditions on reservations.
