In January 2005, the Harvard Project on American
Indian Economic Development issued a new report
on the state of American Indians living on reser-
vations based on census information from 1990
to 2000. The report examined Indians’ progress
in a variety of socioeconomic categories, includ-
ing income, unemployment, poverty, education,
and housing conditions. The Harvard Project dis-
covered that Indians still lagged far behind other
Americans in these areas—an unsurprising finding
considering their long history of discrimination
and dispossession. But what was surprising was the
report’s contention that, in the 10 years examined,
American Indians had made enormous strides to-
ward improving their social and economic status.
The success and growth of the Indian gaming
industry certainly has had a hand in these improve-
ments. But the Harvard Project found that even
tribes without gaming operations made huge steps
forward, even as federal funding for Indian social
programs dropped. At the beginning of the 21st
century, the majority of tribal groups—with or
without the benefit of casino income—were find-
ing ways to improve their lives at an impressive
pace. At the same time, their population continued
to grow to unprecedented numbers. In the 2000
census, 2.5 million Americans identified themselves
as American Indians or Alaska natives, representing
a 26 percent increase from just a decade earlier.
Entering the 21st century, Indian peoples have
plenty of reasons for optimism. Yet, they still face
many challenges—some old and some new. While
in many ways a positive force, gambling income has
created new problems within and between some
Indian groups. For instance, the leaders of several
tribes unhappily became primary players in the
national political scandal focused on Republican
lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who in 2006 confessed to
defrauding these leaders out of millions.
Tribes also face renewed threats to their sover-
eign status. In the 2000s, a series of court rulings
helped erode Indian sovereignty and restrict Indian
rights. Perhaps the most significant has been the
decision in Wagnon v. Prairie Band Potawatomi Na-
tion (2005), which found that Kansas could impose
a tax on gasoline sold on the tribe’s lands. As the
first major Supreme Court decision of the Roberts
Court, the ruling has alarmed Indian leaders as a
harbinger of similar decisions to come.
Into the 21st Century
2000 TO THE PRESENT
