ABSTRACT
When Indian bingo games are humming in almost every nook and cranny of the land, stealing the most sacred ritual of the Roman Catholic Church and gathering the white ma's coin as quickly as it can reasonably be retrieved, progress is being made. Beginning in 1960, the federal census allowed people to self-identify their ethnic or racial background, and in the past three decades a startling jump in the Indian population has occurred. Three areas exist which contain tremendous barriers to any effort of whites to become Indians. These areas, unless they are given careful and serious attention by the next generation of Indians, may prove fatal to Indian efforts to remain faithful to whatever traditions are still being practiced. While it may appear that Indians are adopting the values and practices of American culture, in the field of human knowledge – in science, in religion, and in forms of social interaction, most prominently in government.
