(MONEY Magazine) – RICHARD MIKE KAYENTA, ARIZ.

--Lobbying for higher taxes is not the usual rallying cry of most citizens. But Navajo businessman Richard Mike, 60, is no ordinary taxpayer. At one time, he was simply a reservation kid facing a tough choice after college graduation. "Coming home meant certain poverty, and leaving meant turning my back on my culture and family," he says. "Tribe members can't own land. So we can't borrow money, start businesses or accumulate wealth."

When Mike did return, he resolved to master the reservation system. He spent a decade working for the Navajo Nation government, helping teenagers find cash for college. But with 60% unemployment on the reservation, those kids had no incentive to return. Mike decided to invent one.

Fourteen years ago, he moved to Kayenta and opened his first business, a Burger King, using a federally guaranteed loan. For Mike, the challenges were cultural as well as financial. "There is a legacy of mistrust and isolation that we feel with the Anglo world," he says. "We tell ourselves our way isn't their way, but we can't survive like that." Living with a white family as a teenager and going to graduate school off the reservation helped Mike bridge the divide. "I had been mentored in business and understood both cultures," he explains. "I can work with Anglos and not feel like I'm not an Indian." He now owns three Burger Kings and a Hampton Inn and employs more than 200 people.

As his empire grew and he joined a newly created Kayenta Township Commission, Mike began lobbying for a 2.5% local sales tax. In 1996, Kayenta became the first Indian town to levy a general tax. (About a dozen tribes collect gaming-related taxes.) The initiatives the taxes pay for--an airport, efficient trash collection, sidewalks and a two-lane road into town--have created nearly 500 jobs, and the rest of the Navajo Nation has taken notice. With the foundation in place, Mike dreams of a Kayenta that's a tourist destination. "With our own spirit and business-friendly laws, we'll turn this place into a mecca."--ELLEN MCGIRT