A Push to Fund Lasting Solutions to a Sioux Reservation's Deep Poverty

When we talk about the rise of wealth inequality in the United States, we often talk about the shrinking middle class—how assets like a livable wage, retirement funds and healthcare are increasingly out of reach for more Americans. But there’s also a level of poverty in parts of the country on par with war-torn nations, and even a booming philanthropic sector isn’t sufficiently addressing it.

There’s no clearer example than the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, home to the Oglala Lakota Sioux Tribe—the site of the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890 and the American Indian Movement-led occupation in 1973. Pine Ridge has around 90 percent unemployment, infant mortality 300 percent higher than national average, and average life expectancy of just 47 years for men.

https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2017/7/19/an-push-to-fund-long-term-solutions-to-a-sioux-reservations-deep-poverty