Indian Country Poverty: Place‐Based Poverty on American Indian Territories, 2006–10

Abstract

AbstractThis article examines place‐based poverty in Indian Country, emphasizing that reservation characteristics are influenced by the system of federal Indian policy that affects American Indian self‐determination and antipoverty strategies within reservation boundaries. Using data from the American Community Survey five‐year file, 2006–10, I model poverty rates using multivariate, nested regression along key dimensions associated with American Indian antipoverty strategies and place‐based poverty. The results indicate that rates of female‐headed households and opportunity structures, such as lack of work, contribute to higher rates of reservation poverty while gaming acts as a slight buffer against poverty. Surprisingly, natural‐resource‐related occupations, thought to be associated with expropriation of tribal resources, was not associated with higher poverty, while self‐governance compacts, acting as a proxy for tribal autonomy, had no significant impact on poverty rates. As tribal governments seek to address poverty through strategies enabled by self‐determination policies, there is a critical need for more comprehensive and reliable data to understand how and whether tribal governments can effectively adapt federal policies to specific reservation conditions.