Emerging Adulthood and Identity in Two American Indian Communities

Paul Spicer, University of Colorado
Carol E. Kaufman, University of Colorado
Christina Mitchell, University of Colorado
Douglas Novins, University of Colorado

In the U.S., transition to adulthood is marked by delayed marriage and childbearing, continuation of tertiary education, and entry into the labor force (Arnett, 2000). In American Indian communities, these trends are not as apparent. Early age of childbearing is common and economic relationships take on a different character in the context of extreme poverty. Yet, we know very little about the precursors or consequences to educational, employment, or family building transitions for this community. For example, while early childbearing is common, and education is often disrupted, many young parents continue their education after the birth of a child. We use data from a 6-year longitudinal study of young American Indians from a tribe in the Northern Plains, and a tribe in the Southwest (n=1292) to model key transition for these populations. We also draw from ethnographic data (n=60) from the Southwest tribe to provide context to the quantitative assessment.