Talk:Reservation poverty/Archive 1

Substantive Review
GENERAL COMMENTS Good start on this article, you lay out the issues well and have detailed citations. Many of my comments are line edits—I know that’s not the focus of the second review, but the language in this article needs a LOT of cleaning up. Be sure to give it a couple more lookovers.

Reservations are known for (or at least steteotyped as) having high rates of alcoholism and addiction. Maybe address this in the article?

you capitalize the word “reservations” in a couple places. Correct that.

It would be great to add a couple photos to the article.

INTRODUCTION It’s good to give an overview of the major themes of the article in the opening paragraph, I don’t think the “this article examines…” “it presents data…” fits the tone of Wikipedia. Just write a few sentences about reservation poverty. Also, cut the part about “offering directions for future leaders”—that’s not appropriate for a wiki entry.

“Currently, almost a third of single-race American Indians live on reservations, totaling approximately 700,000 individuals.” Does this mean that the total reservation population is 700,000 or the single race population is 700,000. I know some non-Indians live on reservations too. It would be interesting to see a breakdown.

“Despite [such] variation, reservations [share a] similar [history] and [face similar] contemporary challenges.’

“In 2010, the poverty rate on reservations [was] 28.4 percent, compared with 22 percent among all American Indians (reservation and not), and 15.3 percent [among all] Americans.”

Cut the sentence “Unfortunately, data about reservation populations [] is not regularly tabulated, so recent figures are not always available.” You mention it again below.

“[In addition to high] poverty rates [ ],[r]eservations [are hindered by low education levels, poor healthcare services, low employment, substandard housing, and deficient economic infrastructure]. “

Move the whole paragraph about data challenges to a new section in the body of the article. It doesn’t belong in the intro. And cut the line about “In general, the figures in this article are those most recently available.” Not necessary. And cut “an understandable”—that’s a value statement. If you want to talk about this, explain why American Indians distrust foreigners.

INCOME AND WEATLH “The median income on reservations [is] $29,097”

Cut “Unemployment on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota is as high as 85 percent.” You mention it in a later section.

“[Due to the lack of] commercial establishments, non-cash transactions are common on some reservations.”

Cut “Although viable options for transactions within the reservation community, and a logical reaction to living without banks or stores.” Not needed.

EMPLOYMENT Decapitalize “postal service”

Citation needed for last paragraph

HOUSING Fix punctuation in first sentence

Cut “it is also important to note that”

“Homeownership is [ ] relatively high, [despite] the high poverty rates.”

“[According to __], nearly half of housing on reservations is [] inadequate [].”

EDUCATION Cut the first sentence. Not needed.

The part about “kill the Indian, save the man” is really interesting, but you should explain when it began, what the rational was, and how it contributes to poverty.

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC ISOLATION At over 14 percent, the [rate] of homes without any electricity on reservations is ten times the national [average]

“[According to __] only 15% of the nearly 28,000 miles of reservation roads are in acceptable conditions …”

“Although the federal government has made funds available to improve transportation on reservations, they have not been taken advantage of.” Please explain. Also, avoid ending sentences with prepositions.

LOCAL LEADERSHIP “Although many tribal governments are extremely successful and develop programs that provide both cultural and economic opportunity, they are not universally beneficial to the people of reservations.” Explain what the problems are.

“Often, local governments [are] staffed with individuals from”

ATTEMPTS TOWARD CHANGE

Who is Suichi Nagata? Say something like “sociologist, Suichi Nagata”

Shuichi Nagata has stated that both the reservations and American cities [clash with] traditional Native lifestyles.

GOVERNMENTAL AID

Unfortunately, this food tends to be nonperishable, heavy on simple starches, and [nutritionally deficient], [thus] contribut[ing] to high rates of obesity and diabetes on reservations.

Cut “contributing to increasing poverty”.

“Like welfare in other areas, public assistance does not effectively reduce poverty on the reservation.” Welfare by definition reduces poverty. Say what you mean a little more clearly.

“Many reservations are fighting to bring these positive changes through a variety of means.” Vague. Cut it or elaborate.

CASINOS

“Due to their unique relationship with the government”. Explain the relationship.

“However, the reality does not often bring change.” Rephrase. Also, the only evidence you give of this is what happens on isolated reservations. Are big casinos successful in poverty alleviation? WELFARE REFORM Some have suggested that [] tribes to take more complete oversight of welfare programs [].

Some have suggested that private enterprise originating on the reservation is the key to poverty alleviation.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Some have suggested that private enterprise originating on the reservation is the key [to poverty alleviation].

The description of Alaskan Corporations is confusing. Do people actually live on “corporations” rather than reservations? That’s how it sounds now.

“The Alaskan [Native] Corporations ANCs have”

I would create a separate paragraph at the end starting with a sentence like “Many have criticized the vision of small business entrepreneurship as a solution to reservation poverty.” Then group those criticisms below.

I would cut the last paragraph or shorten it to a couple sentences. It feels like the concluding paragraph of an academic essay, but encyclopedia entries don’t need conclusions. Also it’s very vague.

REFERENCES

Good job with the references. There are a lot, and the ones that I was able to check look appropriate.But you still need to incorporate Helena’s suggestions for additional references.

1.	you could add links to more of the references 2.	You list some references multiple times. The standard practice for wikipedia is to use the “named references” tool to reference the same text multiple times. 3.	Fix the date on the following entries

US Census Bureau. "Population by Poverty Status in 1999 for Counties". US Census Bureau. Retrieved 10/9/2011. US Census Bureau. poppvstat00.html "Population by Poverty Status in 1999 for Counties". US Census Bureau. Retrieved 10/9/2011 ^US Department of Energy. Energy Consumption and Renewable Energy Development Potential on Indian Lands. Washington, DC: US Department of Energy. CBS Blows the Whistle on Lakotah Electricity Scandal". Republic of Lakotah. 3/2/2009.	"Indian Reservation Roads Inventory". Bureau of Indian Affairs. Retrieved 10/11/2011.	US Department of Commerce. Statement of Kelley Levy of National Telecommunications and Information Administration, US Dpt of Commerce to the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, Hearing on the Status of Telecommunications in Indian Country. Washington, DC: US Department of Commerce.	Knudsen, Andreas; Coauthor (Date). "Native Americans Bear the Nuclear Burden". Indigenous Affairs Spring: 1–10. 1.	Radioactive Racism: History of Targeting Native American Communities with High-Level Atomic Waste Dumps. Washington, DC: Public Citizen. 2000. Rural Policy Research Institute (Winter). "Overview". Perspectives on Poverty, Policy, and Place 1 (4). 2.	^ Mezey, Naomi (Date). "The Distribution of Wealth, Sovereighnty, and Culture Through Indian Gaming". Stanford Law Review 48 (3): 711–737. --Mrosaldo (talk) 02:32, 20 November 2011 (UTC)

Expansion Proposal with focus on Women and Families
After reading through the current article and talk page I would like to make some revisions. In additions to adding more citations to the general page I am proposing an expansion for this page that focuses specifically on the gendered effects of poverty on women's capabilities and families. Currently the article provides a broad overview of reservation poverty but the effects of poverty have different consequences for men and women. Native Women on reservations face greatly different circumstances on reservations than their counterparts in other low income families. Despite their citizenship as Americans women in reservations face severely limited capabilities in comparison to their peers. I would like to identify some of these issues that affect women on reservations. Some subtopics I would like to identify are rates of violent acts against women, family planning and teen pregnancy as well as mental health issues. I will also like to add on the section that describes poverty alleviation efforts to include women groups and family based organizations that are currently working to ameliorate poverty on reservations. The sources I will use for this section will include scholarly articles, data from federal organizations as well as local magazines and news coverage. I think the addition of this section will help provide a more comprehensive understanding of the effects of poverty on the reservation population. Any feedback would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Risadieken (talk) 05:30, 6 March 2013 (UTC)risadieken

Suggestions for Improvement
The following are some suggestions of improvement to increase the accuracy and usefulness of this article.

First, the structure of the article needs to be revised. I suggest presenting an overview of the current state of poverty on reservations first, followed by a systematic treatment of explanatory forces behind these conditions, and possibly consideration of various attempts toward change that have been envisioned or implemented. As it is, although they contain much information, the various sections repeat themselves rather than presenting one coherent article. There are a few futher areas of improvement regarding organization of the article. The history section lists many factors that contribute to reservation poverty without offering causal links, which could be expanded in a separate section about explanatory forces. Treatment of some tangentially related subjects could be better handled with a link to an additional full article rather than an extremely abbreviated treatment of a complex issue within this article (such as the question of gaming as a source of tribal revenue).

Secondly, the article could be improved by clarification regarding what populations are being referred to at different times. As is, the article does not present a discussion of variation of conditions among reservations, or descriptions of reservations on which residents do not face such bleak conditions. When statistics are presented, there is no differentiation between Reservation populations, Reservation native populations, and national native populations. Since the article focuses on reservation poverty, such distinctions are important. When facts are presented about specifically reservation populations, they focus on one or two particular reservations, without indicating the degree to which these reservations are representative.

A few particular statements are problematic. General statistics presented without sources, whereas others present second-hand sources. Furthermore, some of these sources are not formatted using Wikipedia standards.Most noticeably, stating that American Indians are "disconcertingly prone to crime, alcoholism, and suicide" reflects a limited understanding of the myriad social forces influencing these rates.

This article holds potential to be a valuable discussion of some of America's most proverty-stricken areas and populations.

Ss114 (talk) 01:17, 11 September 2011 (UTC)

I suggest shortening the lead paragraph to include a general summary of the main points you will address in the article. Move the history/definitional aspects of American Indian Reservations out of the lead paragraph to its own separate section. In fact, there is already an existing Wikipedia article that covers much of what you discuss about Indian Reservations. You could hyperlink to this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_reservations rather than repeating the same information in your article. Refocus the lead paragraph to reservation poverty specifically, not such a lengthy discussion on Indian reservations in general. Overall though, I think the organization of the article into the three categories (Current State of Poverty, Explanatory Forces, and Attempts toward Change) is clear and flows nicely. You could potentially add a section before current state of poverty to address some of the historical/background information of Indian reservations more generally.

Not all of the statements you make seem to be neutral and verifiable. The following statements need to be supported by references: “There are very few jobs available on the reservation. Schools are the biggest employer, followed by various public service positions with the Postal Service, commodity and provisions office, and tribal police forces. Because these positions require a high school education, much of the reservation population is disqualified.” “The average household size is 3.08, but there is much variation. Many homes house very large extended families. In Oregon, some reservations average more than ten people in each home. In Wisconsin and California, large households are also common.” “Treaties established in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries included provisions that the government would provide food and shelter for American Indians. Each reservation has a commodities office, from which monthly food supplies are given out. Unfortunately, this food tends to be nonperishable, heavy on simple starches, and not nutritionally meaningful. It is often associated with the high rates of obesity and diabetes on reservations. The government also provides the majority of housing on reservations, discussed above.” “Like welfare in other areas, public assistance does not effectively reduce poverty on the reservation. Although it may keep many families from being completely unable to survive, it does not build economies, reinstitute cultural institutions, or create a source of pride for reservation residents. Many reservations are fighting to bring these positive changes through a variety of means.” “Some Native entrepreneurs have brought economic development to their reservations. Small businesses thrive on reservations throughout the country. For example, the Tanka Bar company of Kyle, South Dakota on Pine Ridge produces energy bars using buffalo meat and cranberries that are sold in gourmet grocery stores throughout the country. An artists’ cooperative on the Fort Apache Reservation sells Native artwork online and is staffed by young reservation residents, providing the artists with business and the employees with important work experience. Unfortunately, for every successful business, there are many that are not able to sustain themselves, and many more ideas without the resources needed to implement them.” “As tribes, families, and communities work to improve conditions of the reservations, leaders can hope to learn what most effectively reduces poverty, improves quality of life, and preserves Native cultures. The historically rooted and deeply persistant poverty is troubling. The question of whether the Reservation system can persist, or needs to be completely overhauled has no easy answer. In the face of extreme adversity, historical abuse and neglect, and severe hardship, reservation residents have preserved their culture as much as possible and will continue to fight for an improved quality of life.”

Geographic Isolation paragraph seems to deal more with land rights and use of the land than actual geographic isolation of the land. Might considering changing this subtitle to better reflect the content you are dealing with.

Local leadership as a causal factor for reservation poverty could be better developed to make a more convincing argument

Casino section can be strengthened by perhaps citing additional academic studies that have explored this issue in relation to reservation poverty: Gonzales, Angela. 2004. “Gaming and Displacement: Winners and Losers in American Indian Casino Development” International Social Science Journal 55(175): 123-133. Gonzales, Angela and Thomas Lyson. 2007. “What Does a Casino Mean to a Tribe?: Assessing the Impact of Casino Development on Indian Reservations in Arizona and New Mexico.” The Social Science Journal 44(3): 405-419. You can also hyperlink this section to the Wikipedia article on Native American Gaming: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_American_gaming

References: Make sure you provide links to publicly-available versions of all primary sources.

Make sure you include an educational assignment template on this talk page:

Infobox?

Links to other wikipedia articles need to be included, ex. TANF, all of the states you mention etc. etc.

Hlyson (talk) 28 October 2011 —Preceding undated comment added 19:30, 28 October 2011 (UTC).

America-centric

This article is too focused on America. Canada has terrible reservation poverty too, and the article talks about it like it's an American problem only. The first paragraph makes no mention of Canada. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.54.168.191 (talk) 19:38, 8 August 2013 (UTC)

Proposal for structural and content modification
Hi Wikicommunity,

I have some proposals for how to make this article better, and I'd love to have a conversation and hear what the community thinks!

While the information in the article is relevant, a lot of relevant information is still missing. There is currently no section on non-profit work with indigenous nations nor is there info on community-led poverty alleviation initiatives. Several things seem to be in the wrong section; for example, all local reform efforts and anti-poverty programs are lumped under the "Government assistance" header, and there is an environmental justice paragraph haphazardly thrown into the "contemporary policy" section when frankly it needs a section all to itself. Both of these issues are problematic and could use rectifying.

Moreover, there are almost no indigenous voices present in this article. To my mind this is a glaring flaw that needs fixing, since the lack of indigenous representation of the experience of poverty on reservation reinforces power imbalances between indigenous nations and dominant political and economic systems.

Let's have a dialogue and make this page better!

Ariellibelly (talk) 20:18, 15 February 2018 (UTC)

Title should be Reservation Poverty in the USA
There are Indigenous people reservations in other countries, such as Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The article is about reservations in the USA only. Therefore, the title should be changed to "Reservation Poverty in the USA". I don't think a regular user can change the name of an article so I'm hoping someone up the editing hierarchy will do this. I made a couple of other changes to the body of the article to soften the assumption throughout the article that the only such reservations in the world are in the USA.


 * Australia does not have reservations. The main article about the US concept is called Indian reservation, so maybe this article should have a title with this term in it? Laterthanyouthink (talk) 02:18, 18 March 2021 (UTC)

Wikipedia Ambassador Program course assignment
This article is the subject of an educational assignment at Rice University supported by the Wikipedia Ambassador Program&#32;during the 2012 Q4 term. Further details are available on the course page.

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Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment
This article is or was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Ariellibelly.

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Wikipedia Ambassador Program course assignment
This article is the subject of an educational assignment at University of California-Berkeley supported by WikiProject Sociology of Poverty and the Wikipedia Ambassador Program&#32;during the 2011 Q3 term. Further details are available on the course page.

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