Study examines American Indians in L.A.
By Adam Foxman
Dec. 4, 2002 9:00 p.m.
A report released in November by the UCLA School of Public
Policy and Social Research found that Los Angeles is home to the
largest number of American Indians in the country, the majority of
whom live in poverty.
The report notes that the low income and unemployment that many
American Indians face is in large part a result of poor education,
which may be a by-product of the often inadequate schools provided
by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
As of 1990, approximately 30 percent of American Indians had
less than a high school education.
Despite the fact that almost 139,000 American Indians live in
Los Angeles County, they are widely dispersed, and do not
constitute a majority in any community.
While this distribution gives the American Indian population
strong connections to many communities, it makes it difficult to
serve those in need.
“In terms of being a service provider, (dispersion) is a
hardship that our community represents,” said Jason Lewis,
Director of the American Indian Recruitment program, which provides
weekly outreach in the form of tutoring and mentoring to the
American Indian community.
Lewis commended the report ““ called Socioeconomic
Characteristics of American Indians in Los Angeles County ““
as one of the most comprehensive of its kind, partially because it
was compiled with the help of United American Indian
Involvement.
“It is important that research done on American Indians is
done with the guidance of the community itself,” Lewis
said.
Many American Indians moved to Los Angeles during the
“relocation era” of the early 1950s, when the
government moved American Indians off of reservations and into
urban centers.
