This stereo type exists because it is or it was based in truth. It used to be it was illegal to sell alcohol to Indians for their own good. They couldn't handle it.

This is not shameful, it is just reality. White man has had alcohol for centuries. Alcohol was new to Indian culture. They didn't have yet the protective traditions that white man had built up over the years, hense as a reslt, Indians couldn't hold their alcohol.

The last time I checked there were no guards at the border of the reservations keeping the people in. They must choose to live there. If so, and things are so bad and lonely there, maybe they should ask themselves why they stay. What do they get out of the reservation system? Has it served them well? Other cultures in our state perpetuate themselves just fine without having a piece of real estate to call "theirs". I really can't see any good reason for the current reservation system.

Having grown up in Duchesne county, I had great friends from the Ute tribe. A young Navajo boy lived with us for two years and attended school with our children.

Indians have a great history and are great people, but those living on the reservations in eastern Utah and northern New Mexico have little or no opportunity.

My parents took our family from the farm to the city out of economic necessity. The choice was either move or perish. They chose to move and little by little our family's economic situation improved. The Government has paid Indian Tribes to stay away from cities.

In a sense, what has happened to the Indian Tribes in America is a perfect case study of what the Democrats propose for everyone in America. For generations, the Indians have mostly lived off Government largess. They have affordable health care, sponsored housing, food stamps and paid education. Did it work for them? Not for many.

As the editorial writer pointed out, alcohol is a huge problem on reservations. The Government's handling of social issues has resulted in too many Native Americans trying to find solace in a bottle.

People need a helping hand, not a handout.

The best thing that could happen to American Indians would be to kick them all off the reservation. In a competitive, sink or swim environment there would be many who sink (with much moaning about the cruelty of it all by the press), but many more would rise to the challenge and be succesful.

It is better for a few to perish that a whole nation could be saved.

"Some studies say the isolated reservations is one reason."

They might be on to something. I lived on an island in the Azores for several years. It was smaller than most cities, the populace was very isolated, and drinking, depression, and suicide were at an alltime high.

I was only there a few years yet I still lost a friend.

I can't believe some of these comments. Indian civilization was destroyed down to 250,000 at the end of the 19th century. White people put them on the worst of lands. If this happened to your family I would imagine it might take generation to come up out of this desolation. This is what happens when a race commits genocide on another race.