Life expectancy for a Native American is approximately 11 years less than that of non-Indians. At Pine Ridge, many are maintained as memorials. There are numerous facts in On the Rez that test the reader's credibility, but the most enigmatic is Frazier's friendship with Le War Lance. A consummate con-artist, Le manages to survive by moving constantly between jobs, bartering artifacts and scrounging food and money from friends. Youth gangs are well-established and growing.
Vandalism is commonplace and most tribal officials are either corrupt or ineffectual.
Casino gambling remains an arbitrary factor since it represents both an economic stability and a cause of friction with the federal government. Frazier listens to Le and his friends talk of vague plans for the future, the elaborate schemes to become movie extras, race car drivers, entrepreneurs of business ventures. Indeed, much of On the Rez, is an oral history of Native Americans who seem to be left with nothing but dreams to sustain them. Frazier always offers to buy the gas or repair the car. Certainly, the most admirable people in this book are the women who weave, sing and nurse babies while the men rage, scheme and brag of mythical feats.