Centuries of colonialism and genocide still inform how Indigenous communities are treated in the workplace and beyond. While Indigenous tribes are unique and diverse, they are grouped into wide categories for data collection purposes—when their numbers are even included in statistical analyses. Excluding their lived experiences from data is just one way in which Indigenous Peoples are still being eradicated today. Use the following resources to learn more about Indigenous Peoples in the United States.
Introductory Resources
Start here for statistics and data on Indigenous Peoples, an interactive map of tribal lands around the world, and the importance of Indigenous land acknowledgment and the right way to do it.
- Women of Color in the United States: Quick Take Catalyst
- Implementing the ILO Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention No. 169: Towards an Inclusive, Sustainable and Just Future International Labour Organization
- Interactive World Map of Native Land Native Digital Land
- Indigenous Land Acknowledgement Native Governance Center
- United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples United Nations
Colonialism
The United States is built on colonialism and the separation of Indigenous Peoples from their native lands, languages, and cultures.
- An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States [book] Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Zinn Education Project
- The Decolonial Atlas The Decolonial Atlas
- This Land [podcast] Crooked
- Settler Colonialism as Structure: A Framework for Comparative Studies of U.S. Race and Gender Formation Sociology of Race and Ethnicity
Criminal Justice
Indigenous Americans are victims of violent crimes at more than twice the rate of all US residents and are the group most likely to be killed by law enforcement.
- The Forgotten Minority in Police Shootings CNN
- ‘It Haunts Your Life’: California’s Legacy of Police Violence Against Native American Women The Guardian
- How Can Police Minimize Racial Profiling of Native Americans, Others? Investigate West
- Native Lives Matter Lakota People’s Law Project
- Tribal Law Enforcement Tribal Court Clearinghouse
Education
Established in the US in the 1800s, boarding schools are where many Native children were taught to assimilate and punished in numerous ways when they didn’t, such as when they spoke their tribal language instead of English.
- Death by Civilization The Atlantic
- The Schools That Tried—But Failed—to Make Native Americans Obsolete The Atlantic
- Let All That is Indian Within You Die! NARF Legal Review
- How the US Stole Thousands of Native American Children [film, 14 minutes] Vox
Pay Gap
Native American women earn only 60 cents for every dollar a White man does, adding up to a loss of $2,055 every month, $24,656 every year, and $986,240 over a forty-year career.
- Native American Women Can’t Wait for Equal Pay National Women’s Law Center
- Native Women Face Larger Gender Pay Gap Navajo Times
Voting
While Indigenous Americans practiced their own form of government before they were colonized, it has only been in recent decades that they were granted the right to participate in the US democratic process with the full rights of citizens.
- How the Native American Vote Continues to be Suppressed American Bar Association
- How Native Americans’ Right to Vote Has Been Systematically Violated for Generations The Guardian
- Voting Rights for Native Americans Library of Congress
- ‘Jim Crow, Indian Style’: How Native Americans Were Denied the Right to Vote for Decades The Washington Post
Work
Data on Indigenous Peoples in the workforce is difficult to find, and when available is not split up by tribe, only by broad categories.
- American Indians and Alaska Natives in the U.S. Labor Force U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Best Practices: Creating an Inclusive Workforce for Native Americans U.S. Department of Labor
- American Indians and Alaskan Natives in the American Workforce U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Further Resources
- American Indigenous Business Leaders AIBL
- Gather [film] Gather
- Tribal Elders Are Dying From the Pandemic, Causing a Cultural Crisis for American Indians New York Times
- Circle of Stories PBS
- National Museum of the American Indian Smithsonian
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