AMERICAN INDIAN STUDIESthe Southeast (Merrell 1989). Early colonial offi-
cials frequently complained about the conflicts
created by the unethical practices of frontier trad-
ers and sought to curb their abuses, though with
little success (White 1991).
Nevertheless, European traders introduced in-
novations that altered cultures and lifestyles forev-
er. In the Southwest, for example, guns and horses
revolutionized relations between nomadic and sed-
entary groups and allowed the Spanish to exploit
traditional antagonisms (Hall 1989).
The emergence of industrial capitalism, large-
scale manufacturing, growing urbanization, and
an influx of immigrants from Europe and slaves
from Africa changed dramatically the relations
between Euro-Americans and indigenous peoples.
Trading with Indians subsided in favor of policies
and measures designed to remove them from
lands desired for development (Jacobsen 1984).
Throughout the nineteenth century, American
Indians were more or less forcibly induced to cede
their lands for the development of agriculture,
timber, and water. In the late nineteenth century,
U.S. corporations began to develop petroleum,
coal, and other minerals on tribal lands (Min-
er 1976).
Exploitation of Indian lands has continued,
prompting some scholars to argue that American
Indian tribes have a quasi-colonial status within
the U.S. economy (Snipp 1986). Natural resources
such as timber, water, and minerals are extracted
from reservations and exported to distant urban
centers where they are processed. In exchange,
manufactured goods are imported for consump-
tion. The value of the imported goods typically
exceeds the value of the exported resources. The
deficit between imports and exports contributes
to the persistent poverty and low levels of econom-
ic development on many reservations.
The Meriam Report, published in 1928, fur-
nished the first systematic empirical assessment of
the economic status of American Indians. Since its
publication, numerous studies have documented
the disadvantaged status of American Indians
(Levitan and Miller 1993). Although many reports
have described economic conditions in detail, few-
er have attempted to isolate the causes of poverty
and unemployment. Clearly, a number of factors
can be blamed. American Indians have very little
formal education, limiting their access to jobs.
Whether racial discrimination limits opportuni-
ties is unclear. Some research suggests that dis-
crimination is not a significant disadvantage for
American Indians (Sandefur and Scott 1983), but
other studies disagree with this conclusion (Gwartney
and Long 1978).Conditions on reservations, where about one-
third of American Indians live, are particularly
harsh. Unemployment rates above 50 percent are
not unusual. Studies of reservation economies
usually blame the isolated locales for many of their
woes. The collision of traditional native values and
the ethics of capitalism (Cornell and Kalt 1992)
frequently complicates economic development in
Indian country. In the 1990s, some reservations
have enjoyed limited (and in a few instances, spec-
tacular) success in spurring economic develop-
ment, especially in tourism, gambling, and light
manufacturing (Snipp 1995).Urban American Indians enjoy a higher stand-
ard of living than their counterparts in reservation
areas (Snipp 1989). Even so, there is disagreement
about the benefits of rural-urban migration for
American Indians; earlier studies have identified
tangible benefits for urban immigrants (Clinton,
Chadwick, and Bahr 1975; Sorkin 1978), but later
research found contrary evidence (Gundlach and
Roberts 1978; Snipp and Sandefur 1988). Federal
programs that encouraged urban immigration for
American Indians in the 1950s and 1960s were
abandoned amid controversies over their effec-
tiveness and overall results (Fixico 1986).
The economic hardships facing rural and ur-
ban American Indians alike have been a major
source of other serious distress. Alcoholism, sui-
cide, and homicide are leading causes of death for
American Indians (Snipp 1996).POLITICAL ORGANIZATION AND LEGAL
INSTITUTIONSThe political and legal status of American Indians
is an extremely complicated subject, tangled in
conflicting treaties, formal laws, bureaucratic regula-
tions, and court decisions. Unlike any other racial
or ethnic group in U.S. society, American Indians
have a distinctive niche in the legal system. As a
result of this legal history, a separate agency within
the federal government (the Bureau of Indian
Affairs [BIA]), a volume of the Code of Federal