How does free software compete with commercial software ?
How do the Indians of North America live ?
Is the new economy really new ?
Their current situation
A lot of tribes
The Indians of North America represent 0.8% of the population, that is to say 2 million people. About 220 tribes were exterminated by white settlers or just disappeared. 557 tribes are known (337 in the United States and 220 in Canada). 150 tribes want the government to acknowledge them as official tribes. The smallest tribe is made up of three members (small clans in California). The biggest tribe is the Cherokee in Oklahoma with 308000 members. The Indians prefer the word "nation" to the word "tribe".
Their non-respected sovereignty and the Indian membership
The Indian nations considers themselves as sovereign. In the past, they have passed treaties with the government. These treaties had to guarantee grounds and sovereignty. But the government does not respect these treaties and keep the Indians under control economically and politically.
According to the government, an Indian is a person who has a certain percentage of Indian blood. This person can sign on for the members list of his tribe. Thus, he receives a tribe-member card which allows to have a few rights. Among the 2 million Indians, 1.2 million have signed on for the members list of a tribe. The others don't want to prove to the government that they have Indian blood.
The reservation : a delimited and autonomous territory
Most of the Indians live in cities, but about the third of Indians live in reservations, which were created in 1876 in Canada and in 1887 in the United States. A reservation is a plot of ground which is conceded to an Indian tribe. A reservation is owned by the government and the tribe. There were about three hundred reservations in the United States. They represent 20 million kmē. Only 20% belong to individuals. The Indians manage their own reservation. What's more, administration, health and education are controled by a federal organism, the Bureau of Indians Affairs (BIA) in the United States or the ministry of the autochtones affairs in Canada. In every reservation, there is a council which is made up of a chief and several councillors. Its task is to manage education, economy, culture and health on the reservation.
Author : Julien L.
Last update : June 2005