[Arthalion]

A.I.M represents only those Indians who follow the Liberal Leftist agenda - the rest of us are treated with derision and scorn... THAT is part of my problem with them - the underlying leftist agenda. If someone nows of an organization for Conservative Indians, then THAT is who I'd support...

Exactly. Many Americans today don't realize that there are two groups of American Indians.

#1 are the (mostly) poor Natives living on the reservations. They tend to be fairly leftist (looking for more handouts) and are the source of most of the pro-Native protest we hear in the news.

#2 are the native Americans who have moved off the reservations, assimilated to society, and hold down solid jobs just like any other American. These Native Americans fall all over the political spectrum, but a huge percentage are God fearing conservative Americans.

The problem is that Group #2 is far larger than Group #1, but there's no political activism by Group #2. Because we only hear about Group #1, most Americans erroneously believe that ALL Indians belong to reactionary, leftist groups like AIM. What's the solution? I don't know. I am white, but my wife is 50% Osage (her mother was reservation born) and is a professional, conservative AMERICAN. We've had this discussion a thousand times, and have never come up with a satisfactory solution.

[serinde]

... native Americans who have moved off the reservations, assimilated to society, and hold down solid jobs just like any other American.

LOL. In my last job I got to make copies and file the I-9 IDs for new employees. One lady used a tribal membership card - the first I had ever seen. Perfectly acceptable ID, and a wonderful co-worker. With two college degrees, she was certainly able to "hold down a solid job."

[Chad Fairbanks]

I've had this discussion with my wife several times, as well... no, no easy solution, but I can say that the Clinton Administration did us no favours by enhancing the problems...