American Indian Culture and Research Journal

INTRODUCTION It is difficult to profile the American Indian population, because there are 511 federally recognized tribes and villages, each of which has its own unique culture and history. This report must be considered a discussion of the "average American Indian," which of course does not exist, but we are limited by available data sources and space. The 1980 United States census identified a total of 1,364,033 American Indians and 278 American Indian reservations (excluding Alaska Natives) where approximately one-fourth of all American Indians lived in that year. The majority of Indian people (estimated 54 percent) live in urban areas; 46 percent live in rural and reservation areas. The American Indian population residing in historic areas and tribal trust lands of Oklahoma (excluding urban areas) numbered 116,000, comprising 9 percent of the total American Indian population. Generally, American Indians had a significantly lower median family income ($13,768) in 1979 than that for the entire country ($19,917). The income of American Indian families living on reservations ($9,924) was even lower. Twice as many American Indians (27.5 percent compared to 12.4 percent) lived at or below the poverty level in 1980 as the total population. Unemployment rates are very high: In comparison to unemployment rates for the entire country, the rate for all American Indians combined is twice as high, and over four times as high for Indians living on reservations. Fifty-six percent of all American Indians were high school graduates in 1980, as were 43 percent of reservation Indians and 66 percent of the total United States population. The median age of American Indians was 23.4, according to the 1980 census, which is almost seven years younger than the overall United States figure of 30.0. Indians living on reservations were even younger, with a median age of 19.7.