Native Americans Lacking Information Resources (rpt)

[cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU]

Dear ILAT members,

Below is a synopsis of a 1999 report on Native American access to telecommunications
and technology. The report was issued by the National Telecommunications
and Information Administration.  You may be able to follow the link for additional
info on related minority groups.

Phil Cash Cash (cayuse/nez perce)
ILAT, UofA

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http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/digitaldivide/factsheets/native-americans.htm

FACT SHEET: Native Americans Lacking Information Resources
FALLING THROUGH THE NET: DEFINING THE DIGITAL DIVIDE, July 1999

This report on the telecommunications and information technology gap in America
provides comprehensive data on the level of access by Americans to telephones,
computers, and the Internet. It includes valuable information about where
Americans are gaining access, what they are doing with their online connections,
and provides trendline information since 1984. According to the report, the
number of Americans accessing the Internet has grown rapidly in the last
year; yet, in the midst of this general expansion, the "digital divide" between
information "haves" and "have nots" continues to widen.

Overview:
Native Americans (American Indians, Eskimos, and Aleuts) rank far below the
national average in their access to telephones, computers, and the Internet.
Rural Native American households are particularly lagging in connectivity.
Some Native Americans are making use of community access centers to gain
access to the Internet, however. In fact, Native Americans using the Internet
outside the home are particularly frequent users of the Kindergarten-12th
grade(K-12) school.

Highlights:
For telephone penetration, rural Native American households (76.4%) rank
far below the national average (94.1%).

Rural Native American households' access to computers (26.8%) is also lower
than the national average (42.1%)

Overall, Native Americans are also behind in their access to the Internet
(18.9%), compared to the national average (26.2%).

Significant Findings:
Like many other minority groups, Native Americans are not able to access
the important information resources via computers and on the Internet that
are quickly becoming essential for success. In the past, because of small
sample sizes, it has been hard to pinpoint Native Americans' access to new
technologies. The third Falling Through the Net report, however, has provided
enough information to show that Native Americans, like Blacks and Hispanics,
are, in fact, suffering from a lack of connectivity. Their propensity to
use the Internet outside the home, though, underscores the importance of
making more community access centers available.
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