The fight to preserve tribal sovereignty and treaty rights has long been at the forefront of the Native American civil rights movement. Native Americans also suffer from many of the same social and economic problems as other victims of long-term bias and discrimination--including, for example, disproportionately high rates of poverty, infant mortality, unemployment, and low high school completion rates.
- Native Americans have repeatedly faced governmental attempts to undermine their freedom to maintain traditional religious beliefs and social practices. Such restrictions have included the denial of access to religious sites, prohibitions on the use or possession of sacred objects, and restrictions on their ability to worship through ceremonial and traditional means.
- Because many American Indians and Alaskan Natives have yet to be connected to basic telephone networks and are thus unable to access the Internet, they are at risk of falling even further behind in their ability to access employment, educational, and other opportunities made available by information technology.
Background
Federally recognized tribes are considered domestic dependent nations, with their rights to tribal sovereignty preserved. Tribal sovereignty refers to tribes' right to govern themselves, define their own membership, manage tribal property, and regulate tribal business and domestic relations; it further recognizes the existence of a government-to-government relationship between such tribes and the federal government. The federal government has special trust obligations to protect tribal lands and resources, protect tribal rights to self-government, and provide services necessary for tribal survival and advancement.
Also important for many Native American civil rights advocates are cultural issues related to the ability to maintain and pass on traditional religious beliefs, languages and social practices without fear of discrimination. For example, Native Americans have long fought to protect their religious freedom from repeated acts of governmental suppression-including the denial of access to religious sites, prohibitions on the use or possession of sacred objects, and restrictions on their ability to worship through ceremonial and traditional means.
Similarly, Alaska Natives in particular have fought for the right to maintain their subsistence lifestyle. "Subsistence" refers to the hunting, fishing, and gathering activities that are fundamental to the way of life of many Alaska Natives. Before the arrival of non-Natives, subsistence was the only form of economic production used by Alaskan aboriginals to feed, clothe, and house their communities. Conducted in seasonal cycles by small, semi-nomadic bands within recognized territories, subsistence utilized traditional, small-scale technologies for harvesting and preserving foods as well as for distributing the produce through communal networks of sharing and bartering. Today, the subsistence lifestyle continues to flourish in most parts of Alaska, helping to define the lives of Alaska Natives.
Other civil rights priorities include ongoing battles for voting rights, as well as the elimination of offensive use of mascots by schools and professional sports teams that reflect outdated stereotypes and perpetuate racism against Native Americans. The "Digital Divide" is also a major area of concern for Native Americans and other minority groups.
