One of the reasons is that newer immigrant families still speak the mother tongue. But 1-2 generations of being in the U.S., mom/dad to child, often the languages skills of the child since growing up very young here is many times rudimentary to non existent.
This and why not Cherokee in OK? 240k live there. I have a feeling that the data isn't complete for indigenous people. Similar to what you see on genetics sites like 23andme and Ancestry, the sample size isn't there yet.
There are more Asians in Hawaii than native Hawaiians, I believe. Maybe like a 3 to 1 ratio. I even remember someone telling me when I was there last that almost 20% of the entire population is Japanese, which is twice the amount of native Hawaiians. I definitely get the irony though.
I recall a news story where a bunch of punk Russians rolled up on some Portland-type protest and started some ****. It was a head-scratcher then I read about how there are lots of Russians there, which is weird, but I guess that's how a lot of immigrant communities start
2/3 recovery for an era where folks didnt have accurate birth records plus all the destruction, mass deportation, and chaos isn't that bad. Not great, but not bad. Visiting a concentration camp museum is damn eery. If you look at the outside without context, it looks like buildings reminiscent of summer camp for teens. Everything is stripped down for a purpose where luxury or well being is not the priority. The lodgings look very reporpusable for common everyday use if given a different regime in attitude... If you tear down and destroy records, totems, or symbols, it's very hard for society to "remember." Just ask native americans on what we did and what we think we know.
You're right but for different reasons. It wasn't so much "not having" records/documents, it is more of their existence being wiped off the face of the earth. Every town center (what we call a County Courthouse), every hospital, every place that would keep things of that nature, those things just ceased to exist along with the people.