Native Americans
In a 2000 census, 80,822 people in the United States claimed Iroquois ethnicity, with 45,217 of them claiming only Iroquois background. Many Iroquois have been fully integrated into the surrounding Western economy of the United States and Canada. However, many Iroquois economic involvement is more isolated in their reservations. The Iroquois have been involved in the steel construction industry for over a hundred years, with many men from the Mohawk nations working on high-steel projects such as the Empire State Building and World Trade Center.
Many reservations have successful businesses. The Seneca reservation contains the City of Salamanca, New York, a center of the hardwoods industry with a Native American population of 13 percent. The Seneca make use of their independent reservation status to sell gasoline and cigarettes tax-free. The Seneca have also opened casinos in Niagara and Salamanca.
Large numbers of Iroquois in the United States live in urban areas rather than on reservations, however many still remain on traditional reservations. The Iroquois also are heavily involved in Lacrosse, where their team, the Iroquois Nationals, compete internationally. Lacrosse was originally a traditional Native American game until it diffused with the Europeans. Most Iroquois are either Christians or followers of Handsome Lake, a Seneca prophet of the 18th century who was influenced by the Quakers.