Native American Prisoners

Population Characteristics

On April 1, 2000, there were 2,475,956 American Indians and Alaskan Natives living in the United States, with about 40% of American Indians residing in rural areas. More than half the American Indians and Alaskan Natives live in 10 states, with Oklahoma, California, and Arizona each having populations of more than 200,000 American Indians. An estimated 63,000 American Indians are under the custody, control, or care of the criminal justice system on an average day, amounting to about 4% of the American Indian population aged 18 or older (Greenfeld & Smith, 1999, p. viii). Consequently, on a per capita basis, American Indians are incarcerated at a rate about 38% higher than the national rate.

American Indians have higher per capita rates of violent criminal victimization than whites, blacks, or Asians. While American Indians make up less than 1% of the U.S. population, they suffer a rate of violent victimization of 124 per 1,000 persons aged 12 or older as compared to a rate for all races of 50 per 100,000, or about 2 1/2 times the national rate. In rural areas, the crime rate for American Indians is more than double that of rural whites or blacks, and the urban crime rate is more than three times that found among whites. Alcohol and drug use are a factor in more than half of violent crimes against American Indians, and American Indian murder victims were more likely to have been killed during a brawl involving alcohol or drugs (13%) than whites (6%), blacks (4%), or Asians (2%).

The violent crime rate for American Indian males in 1999 was 153 per 100,000 and for females 98 per 100,000. This compares to a rate of 40 per 100,000 for white females and 56 per 100,000 for black females. At midyear 2000, the incarceration rate for American Indians was about 15% higher than the overall national rate (Minton, 2001, p. 2). Finally, [Page 625]American Indians have a rate of arrest for alcohol violations more than double the national rate.

In a study undertaken in the mid-1980s, authors Michael Phillips and Thomas Inui (1986) found that Alaskan Natives were 2.2 times more likely to be arrested, 3.3 times more likely to be arrested for a violent felony, 2.9 times more likely to be hospitalized for psychiatric reasons, and 6.9 times more likely to be treated in alcohol treatment centers. Between 1979 and 1992, homicide rates for American Indians were twice those of U.S. national rates, and suicide rates were about 1.5 times higher. Between 1990 and 1992, homicide and suicide alternated as the second and third leading causes of death for American Indian males aged 10 to 34. For American Indian females aged 15 to 34, homicide was the third leading cause of death.

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