Skyscrapers, Cell Phones, & Indians?

A Native American boy dressed in traditional clothing today.

     We live in an rapidly evolving nation with technology that outsmarts humans on a daily basis; it can do things that we would never be able to do on our own.
   
     Where would we be without our smart phones, laptops, and advanced transportation? It's unimaginable. So some may find it weird to think that Indians are still around to this day.

     While many people mistakenly called them savage years ago, the Native Americans haven't strayed from their tribes or ethnic groups. Today there are more than half a million Indians in the United States and millions more elsewhere in the Americas.

     Still trying to cope to the adjustment of white civilization, the Native Americans are in all different stages of development, from the most primitive to the most sophisticated. Native Americans speak more than 100 different languages and range economically from pauperism to opulence. A few have made money from oil and other natural resources found on their lands, but many live at near starvation levels.

     There are some Native Americans that are educated and completely assimilated into white society; many live in nearly complete isolation from non-Native Americans. Generally, the Indians are still proud of their traditions and heritage, and many of them resist giving up or allowing themselves to be corrupted by white civilization.

     Although the Native Americans don't want to become submerged by the white civilization, they realize that they standards of living must be raised tremendously. Without giving up their unique cultural heritage, the Native Americans have organized themselves into tribal councils to try to help the federal government settle on long-range programs of education, health services, vocational training, etc. The purpose of these programs is to assist them in solving many of their long-standing problems.

     Nowadays, there exist about 300 federal reservations in the United States and 21 state reservations. Some reservations are restricted to one tribe, others are shared between many. The largest reservation is held by the Navajo tribe. Although these reservations are sovereign nations, the People are also considered U.S. citizens.

     It's amazing to see how much the country has changed, but how some things remain the same. How certain groups can still manage to keep their traditions and heritage alive without being 'corrupted' by a more dominant civilization is an admirable trait. Our nation is so fascinating because we somehow manage to put together people of all different races and cultural backgrounds, and make it work beautifully.
   

Sources:
http://www.erenlai.com/media/articles/ma_indians01_en.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_Americans_in_the_United_States
http://www.indians.org/articles/navajo-indians.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_reservation
http://www.indians.org/articles/native-american-life.html