An 'unsettling' profile of urban Indian population in Portland

Wednesday, November 2, 2011  

A new report looks into the social, economic and well-being of the urban Indian population in Portland, Oregon.

With upwards of 40,000 American Indians and Alaska Natives in Multnomah County, Portland is home to one of the largest urban Indian populations in the U.S. The community is beset by high rates of poverty, hunger, incarceration and violent crime, the report said.

"When our community suffers, it makes our whole county suffer," Nichole Maher, the executive director of the Native American Youth and Family Center, told The Oregonian. "What you're really seeing is how our children are suffering."

According to the report, one in five Indian children in the county has been placed in foster care at some point. That's far higher than the national rate and the rate in Oregon.

Get the Story:
Report paints 'An Unsettling Profile' of Native Americans in Multnomah County (The Oregonian 11/2)

Get the Report:
The Native American Community in Multnomah County: An Unsettling Profile (November 2011)