The study by the General Accounting Office, now the Government Accountability Office, looked at the $112 million in grants awarded between 1993 and 2002 by the Economic Development Administration, an arm of the U.S. Commerce Department.

Of the total, $54 million funded 63 American Indian enterprises designed to create jobs and tribal income. Of the 56 for which figures were available, 25 weren't finished. Of the 31 that had been completed, only half were profitable or were at least breaking even. The rest either failed or required more subsidies, the office reported.

Only three of the 31 operational projects resulted in 51 or more jobs. Most resulted in 10 or fewer jobs.

Other points of the 86-page report include:

Oklahoma tribes received just $395,000 from the $112 million awarded over 10 years. This amounted to less than $2 per Oklahoma tribal member. By comparison, Oregon tribes received a combined $6.4 million, or $1,168 per tribal member.

Alaska Native communities received $20 million of the $54 million in enterprise grants.

The grant program studied represents just 7 percent of all federal economic development grants awarded to tribes.

U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Tulsa, said new leadership at the Economic Development Administration has placed emphasis on competition for grants. Inhofe sits on the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, which requested the study.

The report listed several examples of federally funded tribal projects. They include:

$1.3 million toward a $2.1 million cultural center in an unspecified Southwestern state. Despite receiving annual planning grants from the same program, the tribe never developed a business plan and the center was vacant within a year of its 2003 opening. An Economic Development Administration official considered it a success because the center hosts an annual festival.

$2.5 million toward a $4.5 million shopping center designed to accommodate seven stores in Arizona. Auditors found that it had created 70 jobs.