Catherwood LibraryILR School

About a third of Native Americans face job discrimination when it comes to seeking jobs, earning promotions, and earning equal pay, according to a new survey by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Almost two-thirds of Native Americans living in majority Native areas say the availability of local jobs was worse than in other areas and the same percentage also say that Native Americans are paid less for equal work. One tribe, the Cherokee Nation, has made significant efforts over the past four decades in protecting tribal workers from job discrimination. 40 years ago many of the jobs held by Native Americans were temporary or seasonal, while today the tribes employ more than 11,000 people, and with federal support, has established one of the largest tribal employment offices in the country. Chief Bill John Baker has made job growth a priority to combat” centuries of oppression against Native peoples”; the tribe’s ongoing goal is to remove employment barriers through scholarships and education and job training programs. The Cherokees report they now have an annual economic impact of more than $2 billion in Oklahoma.