In order to identify the determinants of American Indian and Alaska Native earnings, labor force participation, and labor supply, data from the Bureau of the Census' 1976 national Survey of Income and Education, which included 3,848 American Indians and Alaska Natives, was analyzed. Comparisons with blacks and whites were made on the basis of wage rate, labor force participation, and number of weeks in the labor force in 1975. Indian earnings equations for heads of households differed from those of whites; Indian heads of households living on reservations had a significantly higher probability of labor market participation than those not on reservations. The rates of return on education for Indian men were lower than for white men. Indian and white wives were similar in all three comparisons. Comparisons of Alaska Natives and Alaska whites were inconclusive. The small size of the sample of Indians in the survey presented some research problems. The results have implications supporting continued investment in higher education for Indians. Few direct policy implications were available from the study of the determinants of labor supply. Barriers to American Indian participation in educational research include problems in funding, data, and the academic rewards structure. (SB)