Street gangs gain foothold on Native American reservations | theGrio

Street gangs gain foothold on Native American reservations | theGrio: During this time of year, school children are often taught the story of the first Thanksgiving where the Pilgrims met the Indians upon coming to North America. Much like the first Thanksgiving, the true story of the current struggle of Native Americans has remained largely untold and misunderstood.

Native Americans live in some of the most extreme cases of rural poverty in the world and in recent years have encountered many of the same issues plaguing some of the country’s largest urban centers. A prime example of such is the Badlands of South Dakota, which is home to the Pine Ridge Reservation and the Oglala Lakota tribe.

Pine Ridge, once the home of chief Crazy Horse as well as the 1890 massacre at Wounded Knee, is experiencing poverty on levels seen only in third-world nations. Over 90 percent of the residents live below the poverty line, the unemployment rate is estimated to be 85 to 90 percent and life expectancy is 48 years for men and 52 for women.