I don't like the fact the only viable economic activity the nations can do is run casinos.
On the other hand there is no question the best jobs on the res are associated with the casinos. And the profits from the casino fund housing, health care, education, cultural activities, and so on. And the taxes casinos pay into the state are a big part of the income of the state; New Mexico simply can't afford to do away with casinos. A doo run-run-run, a doo run-run
Indian women are no longer systematically sterilized when they control their own clinics. I've been to households where the kids can keep secrets from their parents, 'cause the kids can speak the language better. The growth of native filmmaking, particularly digital, is a huge new feature of reservation life. On the whole, casinos (despite some abuse as in every culture or business) have turned around reservation life.
Plus everyone gets a cool pickup truck. (OK, i'm not minimizing the intense problems that still exist on many reservations... unemployment, suicide, alcohol. But they're gradually diminishing.) Health care alone is a huge win.
I've heard a thousand jokes about how the tribes have found a way to stick the needle in the vein of the culture which tried to eliminate them. Skennah Kowa
