Living conditions on many reservations are inferior to what many of us take for granted. Society is dysfunctional, with high divorce rates, domestic abuse, substance abuse, and crime. The economy is very bad, with few job opportunities, and low wages. Decent education is also hard to find, with an astounding number of children not graduating high school. On many reservations alcoholism is uncontrolled. Social workers in the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota estimate that …showed first 75 words of 681 total…

…showed last 75 words of 681 total…the summer. Paper and textbooks, a necessity for any classroom, are not available, due to lack of money. Native American reservations are some of the poorest places in the United States. In the beginning, Native Americans were the entire American population. They developed a large variety of linguistic and cultural traditions. Today, although they make up less that one percent of the United State's total population, they represent half of the nation's languages and cultures.