The continued social injustice of Native American exploitation*

Abstract

Native Americans have long lived in dire poverty, way below any other ethnic group in the United States, despite treaty-obligated federal services in Indian Country. An analysis of distributive justice under the policy of federal paternalism provides disturbing results - the most marked being the 10 billion-dollar mismanagement of the Individual Indian Money (IIM) trust fund. This paper explores the historical, cultural and legal ramifications of this on-going controversy.