A/HRC/21/47/Add.1 sometimes I don’t eat. I’ve never told anyone this before, not even my mom, but I don’t eat sometimes because I feel bad about making my mom buy food that I know is expensive. And you know what? Life is hard enough for my mom, so I will probably never tell her. My parents have enough to worry about. I do not know what you can do, but try your very best to help us. Please help us. We can do this. Yes we can! 33. The evident hardship combined with resilience was reflected in the other letters, giving a highly personalized gloss on the conditions of disadvantage faced by indigenous peoples in the United States. These conditions vary widely among the diverse indigenous tribes, nations and communities. United States census data and other available statistics, however, show Native Americans to fare much worse along social and economic indicators than any other ethnic group in the country. 34. For example, Native Americans, especially on reservations, have disproportionately high poverty rates, rising to nearly double the national average. 5 Along with poverty, Native Americans suffer poor health conditions, with low life expectancy and high rates of disease, illness, alcoholism and suicide.6 As for education, 77 per cent of Native Americans aged 25 or older hold a high school diploma or alternative credential as compared with 86 per cent of the general population, while 13 per cent of Native Americans hold a basic university degree as compared to 28 per cent of the general population. 7 Indigenous peoples also face disproportionate rates of incarceration, and rates of violent crime on Indian reservations exceed those of any other racial group and are double the national average.8 35. The image now often popularized of Native Americans flush with cash from casinos is far from the norm. A number of tribes do have casino operations as part of economic development efforts, taking advantage of special exemptions from ordinary state regulation and taxation that are available to them under federal law. Most tribes, however, do not have casinos and, of those that do, only a handful have reaped substantial riches sufficient to significantly reduce poverty levels. B. Violence against women 36. The continuing vulnerabilities of indigenous communities are highlighted by alarmingly high rates of violence against indigenous women, a grave and persistent problem that has been well documented. 9 The United States Department of Justice estimates that indigenous women are more than twice as likely as all other women to be victims of violence10 and that one in three of them will be raped during her lifetime. 11 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 10 National Center for Education Statistics (2008). Statistical Trends in the Education of American Indians and Alaska Natives. Washington, DC: US Department of Education . Life expectancy is 5.2 years less than the national average, and death rates are higher from tuberculosis (500% higher), alcoholism (514% higher), diabetes (177% higher), unintentional injuries (140% higher), homicide (92% higher) and suicide (82% higher). U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, http://www.ihs.gov/PublicAffairs/IHSBrochure/Disparities.asp. U.S. Census Bureau Fact Sheet, American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month: November 2011; http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/ facts_for_features_special_editions/cb11-ff22.html. Steven W. Perry, American Indians and Crime - A Bureau of Justice Statistics Statistical Profile 1992-2002, Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, December 2004. See, e.g., A/HRC/17/26/Add.5, paras. 62 – 66. Perry, supra, p. v. U.S. Depart. of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Full Report of the Prevalence, Incidence and