The book offers an orientation to the contemporary situation and problems of American Indian peoples and provides a guide to the kinds of information which are available about Indians. The text and appendixes provide information concerning such basic issues as how "Indian" is to be defined and the consequences of one or another definition, the numbers of Indian persons so defined, their conditions of health and welfare, and how much governmental monies have been allocated in their names. Also, a historical background is given to debunk some of the mythologies about Indians and to enable readers to perceive the historical roots of present difficulties. References and major bibliographical aids are furnished to aid the reader in finding the better monographs or the primary source materials. The text is divided into 8 chapters as follows: (1) Background: Historical and Ecological; (2) Demography; (3) Indian-White Relationships; (4) Contemporary Plains Reservation Communities; (5) A Tribal Nonreservation People: The Oklahoma Cherokee; (6) Pan-Indian Responses to Invasion and Disruption; (7) Indians in the Cities; and (8) Ideology, Identity, and the "Indian Problem." Also included are 3 appendixes: (1) Bibliographic and Related Source Materials; (2) Federal Expenditures in the Name of American Indians; and (3) Reference Materials on Indian Population, education, and Health. (FF)