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Module 4 Discussion 1 ANT 3300 Most Indian Americans are culturally aloof and this aloofness has had devastating effects on their overall health and social status. Because of their historic conflicts with European settlers who colonized the continent, decimated their population and drove them away from their lands, American Indians had frosty relations with the federal government. These frosty relations necessitated the formation of treaties with the federal government to protect their interest but the group still largely remains aloof and disconnected from the mainstream population. As a result of this disconnection from the mainstream population and the general cultural reluctance to freely integrate or mingle with the outside society, American Indians currently constitute the most impoverished minority group in the United States. More than 25 percent of American Indians currently live in poverty; comparatively, only 8 percent of white Americans live in poverty. A review of the over 500 American Indian tribes that are federally recognized by the government confirms that this minority group is more likely to suffer from health complications such as obesity, diabetes, alcoholism, and other mental health complications than other racial minority groups such as African Americans and Asian Americans. The Indian Health Service was formed to take care of this group’s health care, particularly for members of the group living in reservations, but it has not been able to reach those who do not permanently live in reservations. The inability to reach almost half of the population who live outside the reservations has aggravated the already poor health and social status of the population. The cultural aloofness has made the geographical isolation even wider. Unfortunately, I have not been lucky enough to interact with a member of this group in