ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses some important and unique problems facing the farming and ranching groups that require special consideration. It focuses on the Native American experience with some general observations on cultural and ethnic groups in the area. The earliest non-Indian people to settle the south-western portion of the United States were Spanish ranchers and farmers. A number of American Indian tribes own natural resources that have taken on greatly increased value with the advent of the energy crisis and the growing uncertainty of the worldwide political situation. The importance of the role that will be played by the American Indian in the greatly expanded development of Western energy resources can perhaps best be seen in the area of water rights. The attractiveness of large-scale energy resource development on tribal lands is increased for many Indians by the fact that they constitute one of America's most deprived minority groups.
