Facts Native American Alaskan Native Facts

American Indians / Alaskan Native Facts

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Facts About Native Americans

There are 562 Federal Recognized Tribes, and 200 plus non-Federal recognized tribes that make-up the Native American community.

Each individual tribe represents its’ own unique culture, language and traditions, and is a sovereign nation on to its self.

Between 1990 and 2007, the U.S. American Indian and Alaska Native population increased by 65% from 2.0 to 3.3 million (AI/AN alone: bridged 2000 census). The 2000 Census showed that 57% of the Indian population resides in urban areas. The remaining 43% of the Indian population resides in rural areas.

A little over one-third of the Native Americans in the U.S. live in three states: California (413,382), Arizona (294,137) and Oklahoma (279,559).

The federal government’s relationship and obligation to Native Americans is a result of compensation for land exchange and forced removal from their original homelands.

Funding for programs as promised from the federal government has fallen short, and Native peoples continue to suffer the consequences of a discriminatory history.

A Quiet Crisis, a report on Federal Funding and Unmet Needs in Indian Country – U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, July 2003: A report on Native American Social Economic ranking at or near the bottom in social, health and economic indicators. For review a copy of the report link click HERE.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), within the U.S. Department of the Interior, bears the primary responsibility for providing the 562 federally recognized tribes with federal services.

Health Services: Members of federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes and their descendants are eligible for services provided by the Indian Health Service (I.H.S.). I.H.S. services area population comprises approximately 56% of the U.S. Indian population, and increases at a rate of approximately 1.9%, Additional information on I.H.S. is available on the Internet at: www.ihs.gov and info.ihs.gov

638 Tribes – Public Law 93-638: Congress passed the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (Public Law 93-638, as amended) to provide Tribes the option of either assuming from the IHS the administration and operation of health services and programs in their communities, or to remain within the IHS administered direct health system. Congress subsequently passed the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (P.L. 94-437), which is a health-specific law that supports the options of P.L. 93-638.

I.H.S. partnership with the Centers for Medicare and Medicare Services (CMS): With the passage of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act in 1976, the I.H.S. was given the authority to bill for services provided to American Indians and Alaska Natives who are beneficiaries of CMS programs.

Ryan White CARE Act and Native Americans: American Indians and Alaska Natives living with HIV/AIDS can receive CARE Act services even if they are eligible for care from other sources (e.g., through IHS, tribal, or urban Indian health programs and services). For information about IHS facilities’ eligibility for CARE Act grants click HERE.

The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971, as amended, which settled the claim of Alaska's Native Indian, Aleut, and Eskimo population to the aboriginal lands on which they have lived for generations. The claim had been unresolved during the more than 100 years since the United States purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867. Under provisions of the settlement, the Natives received title to a total of 40 million acres, to be divided among some 220 Native villages and twelve Regional Corporations established by the Act. The twelve Regional Corporations (together with a thirteenth Regional Corporation comprised of Natives who are non-permanent residents of Alaska) were to share in a payment of $462,500,000 (to be made over an eleven-year period from funds in the U.S. Treasury), and an additional $500 million in mineral revenues deriving from specified Alaska lands.

2010 with the passing of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), the Indian Health Care Improvement Act was permanently authorized.