Living in an area that is surrounded by 3 reservations(1 is even a soverign nation), we get a first hand glimpse into the indian way of life and culture. We see as many "bad" whites as we see "bad" natives. These folks have been dealt a tough hand wether by choice or being enforced on them. We can't be responsible for things that happened 100 years ago. Should we be responsible to reimburse the colored folks because of slavery to? I think not. In our area, the natives are torn between trying to keep their culture alive, or for the most part give it up and join the "modern" world. There's pro's/ con's to that. Those that try to make something of themselves, are usually scorned by the tribe and generally leave to live elsewhere. Those that try to retain their culture, are scorned by society and generally live a life of squaller. But it does come down to choices. In our area, much economic growth has occured in the past few years on these reservations. Unfortunatly, much of the new business has failed due to the tribe members NOT wanting to work a so called full time job, or don't want to get tied down to something. In my area, ANY native can go to college with tuition paid for by the tribe and state of MN. Very few make the choice to do so. But then our area tribes have a high school grad rate of 18-25%, so it's tough to expect them to deal with higher education. Many business's on the rez, fail because "outsiders" are needed to run them due to no qualified local folks. So then the tribe gets mad and shuts them down for not hiring locals. It's quite a game to see happen for sure. But I still think it comes down to choices for everyone. You/your life is what you want it to be. Race should not have anything to do with it, but for many it does. Taz