Indian Reservations

Indian Reservations

An Indian Reservation is a legal designation of an area used by a native american tribe, under the US Government. There are 326 Indian Reservations in the US and they were created in 1658 named Powhatan Tribes. All the reservations have an area of 227.000 km2. Not all of the tribes in the US have a reservation, there are ones that have more than just a reservation, there are others that share a reservation. Some reservations are very fragmented and that's  why are created political, administrative and legal difficulties.
The term "Reservation", comes from the conception of independent sovereings when the constitucion was ratified. There was a treat a long time ago when Indian Tribes surrendered large areas of land to the US Government, wich the tribes, as sovereings, "reserved" to themselves, and those areas came to be called "reservations".
The majority of Native poblation live in other places than reservations, often in big cities like Phoenix and Los Angeles, 1 million of Native Americans live in this cities. 
Many Native Americans who live on reservations deal with the federal government through two agencies, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Indian Health Service.
Refering to the quality of life in some reservations is very similar to that in developing world, with issues of infant mortality, malnutrition, poverty, alcohol and drug abuse.