Re: Interesting Situation...
Okay, I'm not sure why it should be different rules for different tribes, but the tribes here in Arizona don't get all the perks you guys are talking about. The way the tribes work here is each one is a miniature self sustaining society. Everybody who can work, does. Either in the casino or farming or giving tours or working as a mechanic or whatever. All the money they earn goes into a huge pot that's used to pay for tribal necessities. Food, housing, health care. If you're a tribe member and you get sick, you go to the hospital the bill is paid out of this pot. Same thing for all public services. The casino worker makes the same as the farmer who makes the same as the janitor and so on. Those who are unable to work or are retired receive the same benefits. For big projects, the government helps with the funding, but then the government gets something out of it in return. For example, the government helped build a coal power plant on the Navajo nation and in return excess power is returned to the grid, and there is a lot of excess power.<br /><br />Nobody gets free cars, or houses, or anything else. The tribes pay for everything they have. They lead a meager life and are in no way materialistic. They drive older cars and pickups. They live in VERY simple block houses and in some cases they still live in hogans that they build themselves. They grow their own food and raise their own stock. They weave their blankets and make their own clothes. They raise and teach their own children. Their towns have very little in the way of infrastructure, just the bare necessities. These people are POOR, they don't have anything other than what they need to live. Whenever I interact with them, usually at the hospital, they are always respectful and very appreciative. <br /><br />I'm not sure why there is such a difference. Anyway, these people have lived here for thousands of years and we've been here for about 250 years. That's how I look at it, but I also understand that that's just me.
