Cultural Diversity

Native Americans make up just less than 1 percent of the total population and only about 0.50 percent of older adults within the United States. Small population size and a shifting self-identification of race have made it difficult to obtain stable demographic estimates for these peoples. The Native American population is distributed among several hundred federally recognized tribes and entities (including American Indians, Eskimos, and Aleuts). Many of these subgroups have different cultures, histories, and degrees of self-identification, and a wide range of economic and social characteristics. Two-thirds of Native American older adults reside in ten states, and there is a further divide along rural-urban lines. Considerable American Indian migration to cities during and following World War II has left roughly half of these people dispersed among the U.S. urban population. Elders in cities forgo the support of tribal communities that is available to their rural and reservation counterparts who live in cultural enclaves (John, 1999).