Wenona Wolf: Native people are invisible in our own homeland

The Native American community in Madison is relatively small, about 0.4 percent of the population. The overall native population in Wisconsin is about 1 percent, which is minute in comparison to the white population of more than 87 percent. Our people are often out of sight, living on reservations in rural Wisconsin, or they blend into other diverse communities in our urban cities—a direct effect of federal policies once created to diminish our culture. This means we are often left out of the public conversation. I am referring to the important conversation that happens here in Madison among community leaders, policy makers, government officials and nonprofit organizations that dictates what programs, policies and laws are created and where funding is directed. And even when we are at the table, we are met with a long list of reasons as to why working with tribes is just too hard. This lack of inclusion continues our country’s great legacy of systematically leaving native people behind.

Just as alarming is the fact that even in a city of well-educated residents, I have encountered so many people who know little to nothing about native people, even though Wisconsin is home to 11 federally recognized tribes. Clearly, it is a direct reflection of what is taught, and not taught, in our public schools. Ironically, there are very few places you can travel to in Wisconsin without running into a city or body of water named after us, yet so many people fail to acknowledge we exist. The lack of knowledge about native people, culture and issues has often put me in some uncomfortable situations.

And as the word “disparity” has become part of regular conversation in Madison, I have noticed the lack of conversation about the disparities Native Americans face. Thirty-eight percent of Native American children in Wisconsin live in poverty compared to 11 percent of their white counterparts. Native American adults in our state are more likely to be unemployed and live in poverty, and Wisconsin leads the nation in imprisoning Native American men. The University of Wisconsin–Madison cites that 46 percent of undergraduate Native American women report being sexually assaulted. Nationally, Native American women are paid 59 cents for every dollar white men are paid, far less than the 79 cents to the dollar gender-gap statistic that is often cited for women. Suicide is the second-leading cause of death for native youth—2.5 times the national rate.