Now, after a bid for a casino in the Columbia Gorge failed (see sidebar), the tribe is exploring a new solution: more gambling closer to home. It's a cycle that's proved difficult to break. With the exception of a teeny reservation near Burns, no tribe, or county, for that matter, in the state comes close to racking up such a collection of bleak statistics.
And unemployment numbers range from 25 to 70 percent depending on whom you ask. A quarter of the adult population never finished high school. Nearly half the population lives below the poverty level.
Alcohol, drug and sex abuse rates are high. When it comes to quality of life indicators on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation, the statistics are staggering.
