Native American Indian Analysis

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Due to the government’s seizing of the Native Americans’ land, they are still struggling with poverty, even though it was hundreds of years ago. In the ABC documentary, The Children of the Plains, Diane Sawyer provides insight into what Native Americans experience every day. The film features Robert Looks Twice and his mother, and the struggles they both have to face living in the reservation. Robert Looks Twice’s mother is addicted to alcohol, and Robert faces the great consequences of being poor. Not only does The Children of the Plains, provide the reader with an insight of Indian lives, but also In The True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Alexie Sherman. The novel shows the reader what a Native American has to face and the sacrifices he…show more content…
Many children with young parents know that “Given the chance” their mothers “would have gone to college.” (Sherman 11) In Native American Indian reservations, economic scarcity has a great impact on an individual’s life, because the majority of the people do not have enough money to improve their living conditions. The individuals in the reservations have many damages in their homes, on average “60% of the homes are severely substandard, without water, electricity, adequate insulation, and sewage systems.” (Pine Ridge Statistics) In the Children of the Plains, Robert Looks Twice’s home is in bad conditions, besides from being…show more content…
There aren't many jobs in the Pine Ridge Reservation, which leaves many Indians unemployed in the community. For instance in the Children of the Plains, there is not a single mall, nor a movie theater, a big business, nor a bank, in which someone could apply for a position. Instead there is a 70% to 80% rate of unemployment in the adults of the Pine Ridge reservation. Due to the high percentage of unemployment, the education in the reservation is scarce. Because of this, the “buildings containing asbestos, radon, mice, mold and flimsy outside door locks” (Winslow, 2014) creates a horrifying environment for children to be able to focus on just learning the material given. A high percentage of Native American teenagers don’t even get the chance to go to school, at jail for juveniles, “there is no schooling, no vocational opportunity and no counseling. There is simply detention." (Horwitz, 2014) by limiting teenage education, their lives instead of proving are being deteriorated. Poverty is a big problem in Pine Ridge reservation, because of this problem; many Native American children, teenagers and adults are prone to experiment with substance abuse at an early age. Due to the lack of money as a way to escape their financial issues, Native Americans “turn to drugs or otherwise run afoul of the
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