American Indian Wealth in the Early Twentieth Century
AEA Papers and Proceedings
vol. 114,
May 2024
(pp. 210-14)
Abstract
We use data from the Bureau of Indian Affairs annual reports between 1912 and 1927 to examine the wealth of Indigenous nations in the contiguous United States during the early twentieth century. Our estimates reveal considerable heterogeneity in wealth holdings across Indigenous nations. In 1912, the average real per capita wealth of Indigenous nations was high relative to other groups, but it declined systematically throughout the period of our study. Given the available contemporary evidence, our estimates imply a dramatic widening of the wealth gap over the last century.Citation
Feir, Donn. L., Maggie E. C. Jones, and Angela Redish. 2024. "American Indian Wealth in the Early Twentieth Century." AEA Papers and Proceedings, 114: 210-14. DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20241110Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- D31 Personal Income, Wealth, and Their Distributions
- G51 Household Finance: Household Saving, Borrowing, Debt, and Wealth
- J15 Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
- N32 Economic History: Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy: U.S.; Canada: 1913-