There are 567 federally recognized American Indian tribes and Alaska Natives in the United States. Native American land holdings equate to over 55 million surface acres and 57 million acres of subsurface minerals estates, which is approximately 2.5% of US landmass, and is domiciled within 48 states . Most notable, all of the 567 Native American tribes are recognized as sovereign governments by the US Constitution, and the US Supreme Court, Presidential Executive Orders, and the US Government which have continually reaffirmed this stance. The continued federal legislation, beginning with the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 (“IRA”), sometimes known as the Indian New Deal, has secured certain economic rights for Native Americans to restore Indian tribes to a position of self-governance. As a result of continuing pro-tribal legislation, positive economic framework between the Indian Nations, domiciled states, and the United States has created a viable platform to provide tribal self-governance with the purpose to ensure that the Indian Nations remain a viable and distinct group of people. The goal of Native American Partners, for the Native American people, is to preserve tribal culture while creating an economic base that will provide longevity and growth.
The United States is home to 2.4 million Native Americans. In comparison to the total population, this number is very small (only .9%) . Native Americans have historically lived in extreme poverty. With the rise of Indian gaming enterprises, the problem of poverty may have been variously addressed in select areas. While Native Americans have begun to take more control of their tribal economies and have begun to improve their situations, poverty on Indian Reservations is still a major issue. The U.S. Census in both 1990 and 2000 indicates that poverty has prevailed on reservations; to this day, Native Americans have the highest poverty and unemployment rates in the United States of America. The poverty rate of Native Americans is 25%.
Tribal business ventures suffer from several factors that hold them back from prosperity. These detracting factors include:
