According to the United States Census Bureau,1  approximately 4.9 million people in the U.S. identified as Native American in combination with another ethnic identity in 2008; that is around 1.6 percent of the total population. There are currently around 335 federally recognized tribes in the United States (minus Alaska).

American Indian nations are theoretically sovereign but limited by individual treaties and federal Indian law, which is in flux and often dependent on individual U.S. Supreme Court decisions. Tribal governments’ sovereignty is also limited by plenary power of the U.S. Congress, which can unilaterally change historical treaty articles. Separate federal agencies, such as the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Indian Health Service, are responsible for the federal government’s trust responsibilities to Indian tribes. Some of the lands that are the property of American Indians are held in trust by the government; the government holds the title to the land, and is supposed to manage or at least extend oversight over the land’s use on behalf of individuals or tribes. The government also has treaty obligations, stemming from historical land sales by Indian nations to the federal government. More than half of American Indians live off-reservation, many in large cities.

While there are widespread differences between indigenous nations, as a whole, American Indians have a lower life expectancy and higher poverty rates than the average U.S. citizens. In 2008, 24.2 percent of those who identified themselves only as American Indian or Alaskan Native were living below the poverty line. Some of the main challenges they face are related to trust lands and sovereignty, unemployment, housing shortages, health problems and youth suicides.