According to the 2000 national census figures, 4,119,301 people in the United States identified themselves as a member of an American Indian or Alaska Native tribe. This includes people who exclusively self-identified as Native as well as those who identified as a member of two or more “races” (this terminology being used in official

documents in the United States). The Indian Health Service estimated its service population to be around 1.5 million in 2000. In comparison to other segments of American society, the American Indian population in the United States is overall marked by a high percentage of young people, high unemployment on reservations, high poverty, low life expectancy rates for both sexes, high rates of diabetes, heart problems, alcoholism and suicide, and a low high school and college graduation rate. Reservations have been granted limited sovereignty but

are under the control of the federal government.