There are many modern-day problems within the Inuit tribe, but they were all caused by one thing: reservations. I decided to focus on all of them, instead of just addressing one because they all had this in common. They are drugs, alcohol, gambling, sickness and lack of education. 

Some native tribes, including the Inuit, have been put onto reservations and this would naturally make anyone angry. The reservations were created by colonists and settlers who wanted to have the best for themselves (don’t we all?). They forced the ‘primitive’ natives off their good land into reservations with the worst cropland and other downfalls. This made the natives angry, and they resorted to drugs, alcohol, and gambling to help them cope with their unfortunate situation. Although there are few reservations existing for the Inuit, these problems still exist because of the unfair treatment they receive from the modern Alaskans.

Although this was more of a problem quite a while ago, when the colonists were just arriving, sickness is still a threat to the Inuit. Tuberculosis was a major problem in the Inuit long ago because they weren’t immune to it. It was a powerful tool for the European and American colonists because they could harm the native population while being immune themselves. Nuclear waste has had a negative effect on the Inuit as well. This dumping of waste near the tribes causes cancer primarily but is also generally bad for one’s health.

The government funds the schools in indigenous tribes, but it doesn’t mean the students have to attend. There is a high dropout rate among the native Inuit for many reasons. Some of these are that sending students to schools outside of the tribe doesn’t allow them to grow up within the culture, creating some negative experiences with education, thus making them drop out. Also, parents want their children to be taught the same way they were: learning from their elders. Sending students to southern schools also doesn’t make it easy to continue speaking their native language. Finally, there are discipline problems with the students. The children are disciplined fairly at school, but studies show that parents have difficulty getting their kids to bed on time, and waking up early enough in the morning. These are all reasons why Inuit students drop out so frequently.

But most, if not all of these problems can be fixed by people who truly care about this cause. So, please, if you care even the slightest bit about these indigenous people, sign my petition to help these incredible people with the problems facing them today.