Dems bank on Indians

DNC funds put in tribal bankCiting decades of discrimination against businesses on reservations, owners of the Denver-based Native American Bank praised a decision by organizers of the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver to invest $2 million Wednesday.

The bankers said it's a good way to encourage tribes to get more involved in politics after years of trying to convince lenders that businesses on reservations do not have higher default rates and that obstacles surrounding tribal sovereignty can be overcome.Democrats partner with Native bank“The Native American Bank represents perhaps the most courageous, grand and ambitious banking experiment in the history of the United States,” said Colbert. “For generations, mainstream banks have ignored and avoided Indian Country and reservation areas.

“They said they couldn't make money in Indian Country,” he said. “They said Indian people would default on any loans they made. They said reservation areas were too economically distressed. They said that the trust land status of reservations was a complete obstacle to transacting any business. ... In effect, they said that Native people were not bank-worthy.”

But the national Indian bank has proved otherwise.