Enterprising tribes look beyond casinos

Tribes and tribal members who own private businesses, like the ubiquitous minimarts, are growing increasingly creative in the types of economic ventures they are investing in.

In Washington State, they include:

• A resort with forest cabins on what some term "the most romantic beach in the world." The Quileute tribe, in a remote part of the Olympic Peninsula, is also planning a conference center, museum, seafood restaurant, and fishing marina in the hopes of re-establishing a resort village, which previous nontribal owners abandoned in the 1960s.

• A cultural-heritage center with tepees for rent, a restaurant serving traditional food, a conference center, art shows, and powwows developed by the Yakama tribe in central Washington.

• An industrial park, including a Home Depot, in a very visible spot north of Seattle, owned by the Tulalips.

Business success has yet to trickle down to many tribal members, however. In Washington State, average annual wages for tribal employment are less than $19,000 - 40 percent lower than the statewide average, says a 1997 report by the Governor's Office for Indian Affairs, with the most current figures available.

Native Americans also face challenges in terms of access to loans and financing. And tribal politics can be a stumbling block.

"The biggest lesson we've learned is to keep politics out of lending decisions," says Elsie Meeks, executive director of First Nations Oweesta Corp., which helps Indian communities develop financial institutions. "Often tribes put some funding into loans, so they feel like there should be strings attached."

The $540 billion tourism industry may offer the best prospects for noncasino revenue.

With a rising number of tourists from Europe and Japan, several tribes in Washington State, for example, are forming an intertribal tourism association that will market eco-tourism, beach hikes, and resort vacations.

"It will give tribes an opportunity to educate the public on what we have to offer," says Walter Jackson, chair of the intertribal tourism group and member of the Quileute tribe on the Olympic Peninsula.

Tourism, however, is controversial with some tribes. "Traditionalists say we're selling our culture, so we have to go cautiously. We don't want to overdevelop," says Colleen Jollie, associate director with the Governor's Office of Indian Affairs.

For reservations struggling to provide basic water and sewage facilities to their own people, gearing up for visitors could be a monumental task, Ms. Jollie adds. But a new spirit of cooperation among tribal organizations has been a positive byproduct of the move toward tourism.

"The tourism business sparks tremendous economic power when neighbors start working together," she says.

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