The term reservation comes from the preservation of the native American culture after being relocated by the government to new land that has no historical significance to them. Reservation life is hard but is in the process of change. There are only 310 reservations in the United States today even though there are more than 550 recognized tribes. Some tribes have more than one reservation, others have none, and some tribes even share. Slowly over the years however the reservations have been shrinking as government condenses them to take some of the land back even though reservations all together make up 2.3% of the United States. Life in the reservations is currently the hard part, many of the reservations are very isolated from the rest of the world. Many Native Americans dislike life in the reservation and eventually leave, when leaving they don’t just leave their family behind but their culture also. Native American culture has been lost over the years even as they attempt to recover what has been lost. They cannot be blamed for leaving a place that has become miserable, some reservations in the United States are considered the poorest places in the country. Alcoholism runs rampant through the reservation along with teen suicides and teens dropping of high school which is way higher than the national average. They have to deal with issue concerning infant mortality, life expectancy, nutrition, poverty, and drug and alcohol abuse. There is also high unemployment and even higher depressions rate from the poor housing and lack of opportunities. Casinos have started to spring up but they only benefit few. Reservation life is hard currently as their culture continues to slip away.
