21.   But it is far from clear that the legislature will approve the proposal or agree that the tribe should be the operator.

22.   But some tribes have been writing checks.

23.   But the fact remains that most tribes are very poor.

24.   But tribes are not required to keep child-abuse statistics or to report them to state agencies.

25.   But there is no tribe quite as sophisticated in its imaginative reach as the one Karl Lagerfeld dispatched Tuesday at Fendi.

26.   By treaty and statute, Indian tribes are sovereign governments.

27.   Children have been particularly vulnerable as whole tribes have been scattered and displaced.

28.   Cohen said those terms could be unenforceable if the tribe is indeed a sovereign nation.

29.   Congress is washing its hands of the issue, saying the tribes are sovereign nations that must work out their own problems.

30.   Diamond said that the tribe was initially reluctant to take legal action to reclaim land under aboriginal rights.