COLUMBIA --- The Beaver Creek Indians in Aiken and Orangeburg counties will have a chance in the upcoming months to describe their quality of life to those who control state funds.

A study is already under way in Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester counties, according to a release issued by the state Commission for Minority Affairs.

Similar studies around the state will be collected in a report and submitted to state lawmakers and used in determining state grants.

"This is so we can get a good picture of what our Indian folks in South Carolina are going through and the things that they need," said Marcy Hayden, the commission's program coordinator for Native American Affairs.

"It's so we can go through and point out, 'This is what they need. This is what they have,' " she added. "There is a huge difference between the two. Here is how we fix that difference."

The surveys, to be completed on a given day at a given site and facilitated by tribal council leaders, will examine eight categories, including crime, public services, housing and transportation.

A timetable for the surveys will be determined on Sept. 19 at the commission's Columbia headquarters.