"While many tribes are starting to change their economic circumstances in dramatic ways, mostly through the operation of casinos, almost 30 percent of American Indians in the United States live below the poverty line -- nearly three times the national rate.

Hence, one of the larger questions looming over the political emergence of American Indians is: Will the few help the many?

Can prosperous tribes help improve the situation of poverty-stricken, non-gaming reservations like the one in Red Lake, Minnesota (where a troubled teenager recently killed nine people)?

And by influencing change in education, health care, economic development and other policies for American Indians, can the tribes with political muscle have an even broader impact on overall national policy in those areas -- profoundly affecting the policies not just as they relate to American Indians, but whites, blacks and others?"

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Carlos Watson: Betting on American Indians (CNN 5/3)