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Native American Peoples
Description of the Blackfeet Nation
Presently, native Indians in the US constitute about five hundred and sixty-two tribes that are referred to as Nations. Of these, two-hundred and twenty-nine are situated in Alaska whereas the remaining thirty-three are spread across various states (National Congress of American Indians, 2011). The Indian Blackfeet Nation is one among the given nations, and its name is literally translated from the Indian term siksika, owing to the dark moccasins that the group uses for footwear. Originally, the Blackfeet were settled in the northern Plains of the US especially in territories such as Canada, Idaho, Alberta and Montana. The nation comprised of three tribes namely the Siksika, Piegan and Kainah sub-tribes. The sub-tribes were further divided into bands that commonly added up to forty-five.
Each of the sub-tribes acted as a sovereign body creating its own governing system, cultural practices, religious feast and observations, and leaders. The Blackfeet were hunters with the Buffalo being their staple diet. With the invasion of the Whites, the Nation was drastically reduced due to warfare, ailments like smallpox, and reduction of food sources due to the agrarian practices. Initial census activities conducted in 1790 projected the population as nine thousand and by the year 1909, the tribe had reduced to four thousand six hundred and thirty-five Indians. Presently, the Blackfeet still occupy Canada, Idaho, Alberta and Montana regions, with the bands reduced from forty-five to four, translating to twenty-five thousand people (National Congress of American Indians, 2011). Only one of the bands resides in the US, (about ten thousand individuals) with the rest occupying Canada. The bands are independent nations and are responsible for their laws and customs.
The Blackfeet Nation is currently faced with various issues, and to acquire an in-depth comprehension of these, we will focus on the Montana Region. The first is a social issue, reflected in the poverty levels in the Nation. Poverty in the Blackfeet community has been enhanced by the federal edicts that have imparted negative elements on the Nation. This can be traced to the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act that allowed for a modification of the governance structure by incorporating a tribal council, which instituted a retrogressive aspect on leadership patterns due to the foreign practices that had accorded by the same (Blackfeet Nation, 2011). Presently, the council manages welfare projects that have been ineffectively handled leading to the high level of poverty. The problem has deteriorated over time, observable in the fact that the Blackfeet Nation has a poverty level of 33.8 percent in the 21st Century, as opposed to the rest of Montana where the poverty level is 15.3 percent (Blackfeet Nation, 2011).
The second problem is economic in nature with the region poorly performing due to lack of private investments, thereby reducing the jobs available. This is reflected in the unemployment levels in Blackfeet Nation at 22.6 percent whereas the other parts of Montana have a 6.6 percent unemployment level. Additionally, the income levels within the Blackfeet community are approximately $24,566 while other households in Montana have $32,434 (Blackfeet Nation, 2011). The third factor is poor educational programs as evidenced by lack of learning resources in terms of structures, instructors and incomes. Presently, only 13.5 percent of the Blackfeet community has been able to attain college education while the other part of Montana has 23.2 percent. Only 22.8 percent of students within the Blackfeet Nation are competent in reading while a meager 10.4 percent is competent in mathematics. Compare this to the rest of Montana with 66 percent of students termed as capable in reading while 56.9 are mathematically capable (Blackfeet Nation, 2011).
Analysis of the Economic Issue
The economic problem has created many problems in the Blackfeet Nation. With the investment deficiency, many commercial institutions within the regions have run on losses mandating shutting down and thus affecting the populace due to the imperfections caused in the market. This is because the shut down affects supply, with the demand remaining regular and thus creating shortages that force the prices to increase. This reduces the purchasing power and subsequently limits the number of items an individual may acquire with a given income. Note that, the income factor within the region has also been noted as low, therefore acting as a burden to the residents (Blackfeet Nation, 2011). The quality of products has also been notably low yet this forces the populace to purchase the same since alternative products that may be used as substitutes are not present.
Employment limitations within the region have also aggravated the situation, as only public positions given by the federal authorities are present. This constitutes to at least two thousand six hundred job positions as compared to the minimal private establishments in the region, with the largest only having a workforce of forty-nine individuals. The other sixty private businesses in the Blackfeet Nation have extremely low workforces. Acquiring job opportunities for other regions has proven to be quite unfruitful due to discriminative practices (Blackfeet Nation, 2011). With land being owned in tribal terms, the area lacks private ownership and this has lessened the populace’s ability to acquire loans for financial institutions by using land as security. Due to inadequate investments, the region bears insufficient infrastructure and therefore underutilized land spaces and buildings as reflected by unused resources.
From the preceding discussion, statistical information has identified the differences existing between the regions in terms of disparities with other locations; no similarity actually exists in the regions. Although the Blackfeet community has had problematic economic issues from the late 18th Century, the issue has notably risen over the years with the climax being the late 20th Century, precisely after the 1970s (Blackfeet Nation, 2011). Scholars have actually traced the problem’s enhancement to 1975 with the adoption of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act that permitted the tribal authorities to obtain and manage business institutions within the Nation. The inefficiency in terms of management cause by the authorities led to the collapse of many institutions and since then the problem has continually affected the region. Therefore, the problem is long-term in nature since it marks a thirty-six year duration to the present.
The Blackfeet Nation has responded to the issue by first instituting a business friendly setting to promote trading alliances amongst the present establishments in order avoid further losses brought on by business dissolutions. A good example of such is the Forward Blackfeet scheme that has created partnerships within the Nation towards achieving a development edge (Blackfeet Nation, 2011). The authorities have also addressed the unemployment issue and thus established the Blackfeet Manpower initiative that is generating job positions in the community by liaising with business institutions within and those located in other neighboring regions. A good example of such a job opportunity has been the GlacierNational Park whose part of the land is located within the Blackfeet region. The federal authorities manage the park in collaboration with a private institution referred to as the Glacier Park Industries whose main role is hotel management in the region. The private institution, with many others, has created an agreement with the Manpower initiative to offer employment positions to the Blackfeet residents.
With regard to ineffective land use, the tribal authorities have created the Lot Policy that mandates residents to utilize buildings and/or land within a period of three years. Once the duration expires and the resources have not been utilized, they are passed on to other bidders for purposeful use. All the named approaches have been effective in terms of implementation and are noting various changes within the region. US authorities have offered efforts in alleviating the situation with an example being the national park initiative and offering of the yearly employment positions earlier identified (Blackfeet Nation, 2011). However, it has not participated in the creation of long-term projects to aid with economic progression, and thus just offers short-term solutions on a yearly basis. As the nature of the solutions is short-term, the effectiveness is highly limited. This is because the solution only lasts for a short period before the problem emerges again.
Reference
Blackfeet Nation. (2011). Blackfeet Nation: A Proud Past, A Bright Future. Retrieved from http://www.blackfeetnation.com/
National Congress of American Indians. (2011). An Introduction to Indian Nations in the United States. Retrieved from
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