What you mean "we", pale face?

I read an interesting thing in the paper today: apparently the natives are getting a bit tired of being the poorest people in the country. Totally unreasonable of them, isn't it?

There is a debate currently, on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation. It revolves around the economy, as one might guess; specifically the debate is between those that want to extract and develop the energy resources on their land and those who want to not, preferring to preserve the traditions and the land. As you might guess, the whole thing is being addressed as Hobson's choice. Normally I'd wax on about the various options between the extremes but today I'm more inclined to address it in relation to my own recent interest in...well, whatever it is. Words as yet fail me.

Other tribes in other places have elected to tap into other resources. The Northwest Band of Shoshone Nation is tapping geothermal power for instance and there various projects in the pipeline for the Nations in Minnesota and the Dakotas. Here, then, is where I suggest we begin with domestic development of my idea. Simply put, here is a group of people who stand to gain immediate benefit from the development of domestic energy resources in a broad sense and who would gain enormously from that energy being used to back a new, hard currency. By partnering with the Federal Government (I'd suggest a 50% split) the people of the reservations could be provided first with jobs building facilities for solar, wind, geothermal and biomass energy production, then with energy/currency (I really need a word for this concept) revenues they will be able to develop a more diverse economic base.