According to the United States Census Bureau 2007,  2,151,322 people in the United States (minus Alaska) identified as Native American only, and 4,006,160 people identified as Native American in combination with another ethnic identity. These numbers add up to 0.75% and 1.4% of the total population respectively. There are currently around 335 federally recognized tribes in the United States (minus Alaska). Tribal governments are sovereign on reservation and trust lands. More than half of American Indians live off-reservation, many in cities.

 American Indian law includes individual treaties and federal Indian law, which is in flux and often dependent on individual U.S. Supreme Court decisions. Tribal governments’ sovereignty is limited by plenary power of the U.S. Congress, which can unilaterally change historical treaty articles. The government has treaty obligations, stemming from historical land sales by Indian nations to the federal government. 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. The political status of American Indian nations in relation to the United States has been defined as “that of a ward to his guardian.”2  This is best seen in land ownership. 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.

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. Some of the main challenges they face are related to trust lands and sovereignty, unemployment, housing shortages, health problems and youth suicides.