HERE'S WHAT'S IN STORE FOR HAWAII'S CHILDREN IF U.S. FEDERAL RECOGNITION IS IMPOSED UPON NATIVE HAWAIIANS
Conditions for children called a "crime" - From Native Times.com
A recent survey from American Indian housing directors shows that Native children are less likely to get enough sleep and finish their homework and are more likely to suffer from communicable illnesses and live in overcrowded and substandard housing conditions.
The NAIHC blames a dearth of federal funding.“ It’s a crime that the government spends more money for health care for prisoners than it does for Native Americans,” said NAIHC Executive Dierctor Gary Gordon, citing figures that show current federal spending at $3,803 a year per inmate as compared to $1,914 for each individual tribal member.
The survey showed increased cases of communicable diseases such as colds, flu, and skin outbreaks, with 77 percent of respondents making a direct correlation between those conditions and overcrowded housing. The group used the U.S. Census Bureau's definition of overcrowding - more than one person per room.
The questionnaire handed out to tribal housing directors also showed that black mold was causing such severe problems that some children are wearing respirators to bed at night.“We fear for the next generation,” said NAIHC Chairman Chester Carl. “The children do not have a bed to call their own on many reservations.”
Bureau of Indian Affairs head Dave Anderson said the survey rings true."The observations by this group are very accurate," Anderson told The Associated Press. "As Indian people, we have been almost like a Third World developing nation. It's unfortunate that America's first people probably experience the bottom rung of every social dysfunction there is.”
"Very few places in our nation have children hurting as much as on our Indian reservations,” Carl said. “It is up to the federal government to uphold the trust responsibility-an obligation it has made to tribes through treaties and laws-and make good on promises ratified centuries ago. We, as Native people, will also continue to work together to make a better life for our children."
