Hello. I'm a mod over on the most active Native American subreddit, /r/IndianCountry. The question you ask also concerns personal reasons, which I'll mention in a second, but you might do well to ask over there as well for more specific reasons/experiences.

First off, according to the 2010 U.S. census, only 22% of natives live on reservations or federal trust lands. Many natives have moved into cities and the term "urban Indian" has been born because of it.

Second, there are plenty of reasons one might not want to move off the reservations. Here are a few:

• While many reservations are in poverty and suffer greatly, not all are desolate waste lands. Some reservations are actually nice to live on.

• It takes money to move and leave. Granted, some leave with almost nothing and make it pretty successful. But depending on where you are coming from and where you are going, $40 might not be enough to get you 20 miles off the reservation. A lot of natives benefit from the assistance programs they receive for living on the reservation.

• Family. It isn't just a simple matter of "well, life sucks here, better leave." If you leave, you're leaving behind your family if you can't take them with you. In many native cultures, family is one of the most important things and it isn't as simple as packing up and getting out.

• Culture. While some reservations are not the traditional lands of those tribes, a good number are. A lot of people don't want to leave because that is their land and they want to hold on to what is left. I can't blame any of them for that just like I wouldn't blame myself for not wanting to leave my home.