As we look at how the American Indian maintains a relationship with the U.S. Government we are going to look at how the different service programs and environment programs. As part of understanding how the American Indian relates to the U.S. Government today there are three different areas for your to explore:

• Tribal Gaming: The media often portrays the American Indian in the terms of tribal gaming. Showing to viewers how the tribal gaming industry has increased the median household income and provided plentiful jobs. However, the tribal gaming industry is only found in 201 of the 562 tribes. Most of the 201 tribes that do engage in tribal gaming, only provide a few jobs in their communities, as their operations are small.
  
• Taxing of a Tribal Government: States cannot directly tax a tribal government. This has been held by the Supreme court in Washington v. Colville, which says that the state government can collect excise taxes on sales of imported products to non-members who were on tribal lands. Tribes in this cases are unable to collect their own sales tax due to the resulting of a double tax burden.
  
• Federal Recognition: There are a variety of federal resources available for the recognized American Indian tribes, however for those tribes who lack federal recognition the process to apply with the Bureau of Federal Indian Affairs is time consuming. This is to ensure that the tribe meets the requirements for tribal sovereignty established by the federal government.

Pick one topic and complete further research on this topic. Answer the following questions:

• What is the historical context of this topic?
• Why is this topic important to the American Indians?
• How does this topic affect the relationship with the American Indians and U.S. Government?

Your topic of research should be 250-300 words long. Spend some time reflecting on what you have learned in previous lessons. If you utilize any additional websites be sure to cite the sites, including the author’s name, title of website, and weblink.