Steve Russell: Indian unemployment isn't tradition worth keeping

Like all crises, if we call chronic unemployment in Indian country a crisis, this one contains both opportunity and danger. The opportunity is obvious; the danger is aggravating the brain drain away from the homelands. Remember the awful results of “termination and relocation.”

Many people squeezed or lured off the rez traded rural poverty for urban poverty, a terrible trade. Others got prosperous enough to believe they could not live as well at home and so never returned. Lack of opportunity on the rez chases away the tribal citizens most likely to create opportunity if they stay. The brain drain is a serious challenge for tribal governments, and those that are not meeting it should study the methods of those that are.

Non-Natives came from the Texas and Oklahoma oil patches, where work had been scarce, chasing jobs in the Dakotas that did not require all that much education or skill. Either most Indians did not travel much shorter distances to claim the same jobs, or employment discrimination against Indians is so rampant that class action lawsuits would be in order.

Employment discrimination is a real problem, but it seems to me more likely in the business establishment of border towns and less likely when the employer is desperate to hire. Virtually all of the oil exploration companies came from outside the area and found themselves desperate to hire. If they turned away Indians in the face of that, it’s time for lawsuits and picket lines. After all, the unemployed have plenty of time to picket.