Corruption happens in all walks of life. Not just in Indian Country. There are good people everywhere and bad.

garageman, The difference is that every other ethnic group in this country, has a home country/nation that they can go back to. This land/country IS the Native American people's Nation. They cannot go back to France, Germany or Vietnam to learn their language or learn the culture. This is it! Here. The government has "reserved" land for the Native American people to live on. A small fraction of the country that they once inhabited. Try looking at it this way. Kind of a "what if the shoe was on the other foot" type thing. What if another country decided that the people of the United States should no longer be treated as a Sovereign Nation. They needed to be assimilated into the culture of the other country. No more American...

What you fail to understand is that the United States government made a promise, on a Nation to Nation basis with the indigenous people of this land, to take care of them, in exchange for the land that you now live on. Only a small portion of land was set aside-- RESERVED, for the indigenous people of this land to continue to survive on. A promise is a promise.

"Remind us again why the redman has the right to be permanent welfare recipients" This land was already inhabited by people before the Europeans arrived. When the Europeans arrived on these shores, they understood this. Therefore, they dealt with the inhabitants on a Nation to Nation basis. Treaties that were made, were made on a Nation to Nation basis, just as they are done today with other Nations. This is why Native American tribes have sovereignty. (They were and ARE Nations that existed long before Europeans arrived.) However, with the large European population arriving and needing land, and the consequent events that took place because of cultural misunderstandings, the Europeans (now Americans) made a PROMISE to the Native...