American Indian Culture and Research Journal

INTRODUCTION A manifest imperative in Indian Country is maintaining the cultures and strengthening sovereign powers. Only when the individual tribe both controls its own resources and sustains its identity as a distinct civilization does economic development make sense; otherwise, the tribe must choose between cultural integrity and economic development. The current paper promotes development as a means to the end of sustaining tribal character; as such, it is vital that all development plans be formulated with an understanding of how they will impact the structure of the society. The intertwining of culture and economic development in planning frameworks can lead to creation of a community of opportunity for each Native American tribe.