INDIAN PROUD

Rank	County	Per Capita Income
1	Buffalo County, South Dakota	$5,213
2	Shannon County, South Dakota	$6,286
3	Starr County, Texas	$7,069
4	Ziebach County, South Dakota	$7,463
5	Todd County, South Dakota	$7,714
6	Sioux County, North Dakota	$7,731
7	Corson County, South Dakota	$8,615
8	Wade Hampton, Alaska	$8,717
9	Maverick County, Texas	$8,758
10	Apache County, Arizona	$8,986

The following Information was taken from wikipedia. This is a chart of the top 10 poorest counties in the U.S. Directly below the chart is detailed information concerning each county. Please note the percentage of Native Americans in each county. This is annual income for a household. Think about that for a second. These people make in a year what most of us make in a few months. Could you live on that? Take care of your family? How many times have you watched ads for adopting a child in Africa? Sent money to starving kids in Third World Countries? I want to make it clear to you today that we have our own Third World Country right here in our own backyard. When the United States Government stole the land from the Native People's, they promised to compensate them fairly and provide for them. Does it look to you like they made good on that promise? I am not saying that we shouldn't be concerned about the poverty in other countries. But shouldn't we take care of our own first? Shouldn't they be our first priority? Let me lay a few more statistics on you. The following information is taken from a great article written by Stephanie M. Schwartz. Please read the full article.

She states:

"The unemployment rate on Pine Ridge is said to be approximately 83-85% and can be higher during the winter months when travel is difficult or often impossible."

"Teenage suicide rate on the Pine Ridge Reservation is 150% higher than the U.S. national average for this age group."

"More than half the Reservation's adults battle addiction and disease. Alcoholism, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and malnutrition are pervasive."

"A Federal Commodity Food Program is active but supplies mostly inappropriate foods (high in carbohydrate and/or sugar) for the largely diabetic population of the Reservation."

"Many Reservation residents live without health care due to vast travel distances involved in accessing that care. Additional factors include under-funded, under-staffed medical facilities and outdated or non-existent medical equipment."

"In most of the treaties between the U.S. Government and Indian Nations, the U.S. government agreed to provide adequate medical care for Indians in return for vast quantities of land. The Indian Health Services (IHS) was set up to administer the health care for Indians under these treaties and receives an appropriation each year to fund Indian health care. Unfortunately, the appropriation is very small compared to the need and there is little hope for increased funding from Congress. The IHS is understaffed and ill-equipped and can't possibly address the needs of Indian communities. Nowhere is this more apparent than on the Pine Ridge Reservation."

In light of all this, isn't it time to make things right? Please visit the follow links for more information on poverty among Native Americans:

http://www.nativevillage.org/

http://www.prrac.org/

1. As of the census2 of 2000, there are 2,032 people, 526 households, and 422 families residing in the county. The population density is 2/km² (4/mi²). There are 602 housing units at an average density of 0/km² (1/mi²). The racial makeup of the county is 81.59% Native American, 16.34% White, 0.10% Black or African American, 0.30% from other races, and 1.67% from two or more races. 0.89% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. 8.9% were of German ancestry.

2. Shannon County has the highest percentage of Native American population and the lowest percentage White population of any county in the United States. The racial makeup of the county is 94.20% Native American, 4.51% White, 0.08% Black or African American, 0.02% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 0.22% from other races, and 0.91% from two or more races. 1.42% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

4. As of the census2 of 2000, there were 2,519 people, 741 households, and 594 families residing in the county. The population density was 0.5/km² (1.3/mi²). There were 879 housing units at an average density of 0.2/km² (0.4/mi²). The racial makeup of the county was 72.29% Native American, 26.40% White, 0.08% Asian, 0.12% from other races, and 1.11% from two or more races. 0.99% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

5. As of the census2 of 2000, there were 9,050 people, 2,462 households, and 1,917 families residing in the county. The population density was 3/km² (6/mi²). There were 2,766 housing units at an average density of 1/km² (2/mi²). The racial makeup of the county was 85.60% Native American, 12.57% White, 0.09% Black or African American, 0.14% Asian, 0.21% from other races, and 1.38% from two or more races. 1.52% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

6. As of the census2 of 2000, there were 4,044 people, 1,095 households, and 871 families residing in the county. The population density was 1/km² (4/mi²). There were 1,216 housing units at an average density of 0/km² (1/mi²). The racial makeup of the county was 84.59% Native American, 14.34% White, 0.02% Black or African American, 0.02% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 0.07% from other races, and 0.89% from two or more races. 1.61% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

7. As of the census2 of 2000, there were 4,181 people, 1,271 households, and 949 families residing in the county. The population density was 0.7/km² (1.7/mi²). There were 1,536 housing units at an average density of 0.2/km² (0.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the county was 60.80% Native American, 37.19% White, 0.10% Black or African American, 0.05% Asian, 0.22% from other races, and 1.65% from two or more races. 2.13% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

8. As of the census2 of 2000, there were 7,028 people, 1,602 households, and 1,296 families residing in the census area. The population density was 0/km² (0/mi²). There were 2,063 housing units at an average density of 0/km² (0/mi²). The racial makeup of the census area was 92.53% Native American, 4.74% White, 0.06% Black or African American, 0.10% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.03% from other races, and 2.52% from two or more races. 0.33% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 50.00% of the population reported speaking English at home, while 49.75% speak Yupik or "Eskimo" [2].

10. As of the census² of 2000, there were 69,423 people, 19,971 households, and 15,257 families residing in the county. The population density was 2/km² (6/mi²). There were 31,621 housing units at an average density of 1/km² (3/mi²). The racial makeup of the county was 76.88% Native American, 19.50% White, 0.25% Black or African American, 0.13% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 1.75% from other races, and 1.43% from two or more races. 4.49% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 58.39% reported speaking Navajo at home, while 38.39% speak English and 2.71% Spanish [1].