Native American Economic Development on Selected Reservations: A Comparative Analysis

Native American Gaming currently is perceived as the economic development stategy that will help reduce Indian Reservations' high rates of family poverty. There is, however, considerable legislative activity at the state and federal level which is aimed at reducing this opportunity. The paper examines three decades of economic development activity on the reservations in an attempt to explore what alternative stategies tribal governments have available in the event that Indian gambling falls short in its objective. Using Census data, the paper concludes that strategies based on the promotion of government or private employment; the promotion of natural resources or manufacturing have fallen short. Education, as an indirect approach to economic development, appears to consistently be one of the more important priorities that tribal leaders can stress in their attempts to reduce family poverty rates.