Reliance on such funding precludes long-term planning. Lisa Little Chief Bryan's business students know she is also a successful entrepreneur. Photo by Natural Light Studio Welfare reform is only one of many laws that utilizes federal block grants distributed through the states. In fact most education funds in this country funnel through state institutions, but states cannot be counted on to provide resources or education to Indian people. As Dr. Michael Pavel says in this issue, tribes' and tribal colleges' relationships with states have been lukewarm at best.
Animosity dates back to the colonial era, and despite some progress in some places, continues today.
For example, states typically exclude tribal colleges from their state vocational education plans. Thus for tribal advocates, each federal law requires another difficult battle in Washington, D.C., to remind lawmakers about the unique governmental status and situations of Indian tribes. The tribal colleges' work is important but it cannot transform the culture of poverty within five years, as the national welfare reform law assumes. The nation's safety net has been dynamited, and widespread misery is likely to result. A passion for serving In the Indian community, a leader is a person who has a passion for serving the people.