Unemployment has always been a problem for Native Americans, and although the rate is dropping, today is no exception. The United States government has started different programs to help with unemployment problems, such as the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) and Native Employment Works (NEW). Eight of the eleven tribes in Minnesota have seen a decline in unemployment rates, Prairie Island having the highest drop. Gaming has played a huge role on unemployment rates dropping in Minnesota among Native Americans.
The state’s unemployment rate is at only four percent but the Native American unemployment rate is at fifteen percent. It was found from the 2000 U.S. Census that cities that had a higher Native American population also had a higher unemployment rate of Native Americans as well. Duluth, Minneapolis and St. Paul were all around 22 percent unemployment of Natives.
Gaming has played a large part in helping with Native American unemployment problems. In 1989 only 750 people were employed by gaming, which skyrocketed to around 12,000 people in 2000. One of the large problems with casinos however, is that only 27 percent of the people employed by them are Native American, leaving the other 73 percent of casino jobs to non-Native people. Another issue is that the average wage for a casino employee is only $9.19 an hour. Although that is higher than the legal minimum wage, it is less than a recipient of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families receives, and it is not enough to support a family above the poverty line.
The United States government has created employment training programs that Native Americans have taken advantage of. The two main ones are WIA and NEW. WIA’s purpose is to “consolidate, coordinate and improve employment, training, literacy and vocational rehabilitation programs in the United States.” NEW provides culturally appropriate employment and training services to all Minnesota Chippewa Tribe members, that are Minnesota Family Investment Program members, but that are not served by the bands.
Although casinos and employment training programs have helped with unemployment among Native Americans, it is not nearly enough to get rid of the unemployment rate completely. It is also not enough for Native American’s to support their families above the poverty mark. Education must be stressed to the younger Native population to help with future problems.
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I know that casinos have helped tribes out a lot as far as bringing in revenue and getting them started in a good direction. But it has only gotten them started and Tracy is right that tribes need to stress the importance of education to excel in the future. I htink a good idea would be to use some of the money that the tribe makes from each casino and put it into a scholarship for kids to go to college. This would be a great step in pursuing education.
ReplyDelete(Jesus Saenz)
ReplyDeleteI also agree the casinos have helped jump start the economy and given the communities entry level jobs. however like the book stated that people who dont have a education their future is becoming more bleak. the communities need to stress education more and more funds need to be put into scholarships.
Yes while the casinos have helped created numerous job opportunities, many of those jobs are being outsourced and given to non-Native peoples. Many of the casinos, especially the larger ones, employ only a small percentage of Indian individuals. So while the unemployment rates have dropped, there is still room for improvement across the board.
ReplyDeleteCasinos have helped to create many new job opportunities, but as many new jobs are created many more are being outsourced to other countries who are willing to do the work for less. Why do we as people look for the cheapest way to make things instead of looking for quality are we to cheap or do we just not care for one another? We as people should push education on our children because the future is so unpredictable and we want the next generation to have it easier than we did.
ReplyDeleteYes, I do agree the Casinos have helped the economy within the Reservations. However, the Casinos will mostlikely not last forever and a Plan B will is neccessary. (Quality Education) But when I look at the Native Americans that are a generation or two below me I realize that they (for the most part) know that the Casino is not something they can rely on forever either. As long as they are constantly encouraged and supported, the future will be a good one.
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