The number of diagnosed cases of the human immunodeficiency virus on the Navajo Nation has jumped in recent years. According to reports from the Navajo Area Indian Health Service, the number of new cases of HIV diagnosed per year in IHS hospitals and health clinics has more than doubled in the last decade. “In 2000, [...]

There is an ongoing “epidemic” of youth suicide in Indian Country. The latest article on this very troubling issue comes from the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, in Montana. The article examines the suicide outbreak among Native American children because suicide is the second-leading cause of death behind unintentional injuries among American Indian children and young [...]

American Indian communities are younger on average than the U.S. population at large. Tribal governments thus face some issues that are endemic to younger populations, such as gang activity, drug use, and crime than are facing much of the United States in general at this time. The Rapid City Journal wrote about this issue recently: [...]

As I have blogged many times, American Indian reservations suffer from some of the worst infrastructure problems in the United States. The United Nations just helped establish this point. A Portuguese lawyer who works for the United Nations on safe drinking water and sanitation issues states that at least 13% of the American Indian population [...]

Tribal populations and Indian reservations are the poorest people and places in America. Tribal governments are well aware of the need to attract business and investment to their reservations. Tribes realize that they need to create the perception, and the reality, that tribal governments and bureaucracies make consistent and legitimate decisions so as to instill [...]

A news report states that the United States is facing international scrutiny for its apparent failure to prosecute criminals who enter indigenous territories to prey on Native women and girls. Between 60 and 80 percent of violent victimization of Native American women is perpetrated by non-Natives, according to a U.N. expert on legal matters related [...]