referencebooks

Tiller's Guide to Indian Country: Economic Profiles of American Indian Reservations

Edited and compiled by Veronica E. Velarde Tiller

Published by BowArrow Publishing Company, 1996 (newer editions are available)

This is an 8.5" by 11" hardcover book running to 698 pages including the bibliography and index, plus a brief preferatory section.

Note: This book is updated regularly. Ours is a pretty old edition. The most recent is a 2006 edition, just published.

What the book does is provide an economic profile for each indian Reservation in the United States, of which there are about 300. Most profiles give some simple stats (including address, area in acres, labor force, education levels, per capita income, unemployment rate, and population of the reservation and tribal enrollment); the location and land status of the reservation; the culture and history of the Tribe; description of the Tribe's government; description of the reservation's economic activity; and a description of the reservation's infrastructure and facilities. Many profiles give a little less information.

The Fond du Lac Reservation is near where I live, so I looked it up to see what I could learn. This entry is about a page and a quarter in length and is very informative. The section on location and land status describes the geography and the history of the reservation. The section on culture and history talks about the history of the tribe and a bit about their contemporary culture and situation. The section on the reservation's economy is the longest part, and has separate sections for types of economic activity (construction, agriculture, forestry, gaming, tourism, etc.). The prose is clear and very informative.

This is an essential reference work for those interested in getting quick information about reservations and the tribes that live on them. It is important to keep in mind that the basic unit of description is the reservation and not the tribe, because there are more than 200 recognized tribes in the United States that do not have reservations, and this resource does not provide information on them.

The Hispanic Databook, 2nd Edition

Subtitled: Detailed Statistics and Rankings on the Hispanic Population, including 23 Ethnic Backgrounds from Argentinian to Venezuelan, for 1,266 U.S. Counties and Cities.

David Garoogian, Editor; Laura Mars-Prioetti, Editorial Director; Leslie Mackenzie, Publisher.

Published by Grey House Publishing, Inc., 2004.

This is a big paperback book measuring 8.5" by 11" and running to 1920 pages, plus a user's guide and several pages of ads for reference books in the back.

This second edition updates a 1994 book from Toucan Valley Publications.

Using raw data from the 2000 Census, this book presents statistical tables providing demographic information on Hispanics in the U.S. by place, with information on country of ethnic origin; and rankings by state, county and city on a large number of demographic attributes.

Among the attributes covered are population figures by place; age; household size; language spoken at home; educational attainment; income and poverty; and information on housing.

Typical statistical tables are based on an attribute (like "Educational Attainment: Four-Year College Graduates") and give the data by place, state-by-state and county-by-county within each state, showing the figure for the total population there, the Hispanic population there, and the figures for each of 23 countries of ethnic origin for each county.

Following these statistical tables is a section ranking U.S. places by the same attributes.

The book is simply a collection of hard data. The User Guide also describes the CD-ROM version, which has the same data for a dramatically larger number of places.

This is a useful collection of data on the U.S. Hispanic population, but all compiled from census data which is accessible using tools, albeit complex ones, that are available on the US Census website.

An Atlas of Poverty in America: One Nation, Pulling Apart, 1960-2003

By Amy K. Glasmeier

Published by Routledge, 2006

This is a slick, full color coffeetable paperback measuring 12" by 9" (landscape format) and running to 97 pages including the index, plus a preferatory section and a CD-ROM. The pages are thick and slick and the printing is high-quality. The borders in the layout of this book are extremely narrow.

The introductory section of the book discusses in detail, among other things, statistical and conceptual issues involved in data relating to poverty. It is a good thing when a data book that is easy to use includes a discussion of methodology. The data used in the atlas come from "hundreds of publications, groups, and individuals who study the various themes.."

The book is divided into four major section: "Lived Experiences," "History of Poverty," "Distressed Regions," and "History of Poverty Policy." In the "Lived Experiences" section are such sub-sections as "Black Families at Risk," "Black Male Incarceration," "Hard Work and Low Pay Define the Lives of Hispanic Americans," "Elderly," and "Working But Poor." The "History of Poverty" section devotes a few pages to each decade from the 60's to the present. The "Distressed Regions" section focuses on U.S. regions where poverty is extremely widespread (Appalachia, The Mississippi Delta, Indian Reservations, The Border Region, etc.). The section on the history of American poverty policy is the briefest section.

The maps are mostly about 6" by 3.5" in size. They use color effectively to highlight information without distracting from it. The book communicates its information clearly and is easy to use. The methodology behind the information is also given a very sufficient discussion. The combination of those qualities makes it a good reference book for getting a geographic picture of poverty in the U.S.