With 56 million acres of Indian lands in the lower 48 States, and 44 million acres of Native corporate land in my State of Alaska, Native Americans have an enormous potential to contribute to the energy and security of this country. Tribal lands are estimated to contain 10 percent of the Nation's conventional and renewable energy resources. This is likely an understatement because Federal geologists are typically very conservative in their assessment of energy resources. Over 15 million acres of Indian lands with energy resources have not been developed. For instance, the Crow Nation has an estimated 3 percent of the United States coal resources, exceeding 9 billion recoverable tons. As gas prices continue to soar and unemployment ranks high throughout Indian Country, we should continue to encourage and empower tribes to responsibly develop their energy resources.

Most American Indian reservations are islands of poverty in a sea of wealth, but they do not have to remain that way. To extract themselves from poverty, Native Americans will have to build on their rich cultural history including familiarity with markets and integrate themselves into modern economies by creating institutions that reward productivity and entrepreneurship and that establish tribal governments that are capable of providing a stable rule of law. The chapters in this volume document the involvement of indigenous people in market economies long before European contact, provide evidence on how the wealth of Indian Nations has been held hostage to bureaucratic red tape, and explains how their wealth can be unlocked through self-determination and sovereignty.