PARSHALL - Workers here will be converting the paper records of weapons systems and military vehicles into digital documents, under a contract with the Pentagon.

MHA Systems Inc., owned by the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara who make up the Three Affiliated Tribes, was launched with a $3.4 million defense contract awarded two years ago. It has 25 employees.

MHA bought two work stations, each costing $75,000, and plans to use technology supplied by 4-Ward Tech for its new job, called video tracing. It uses a projector to enlarge documents that can be supplemented with text and links to related information.

Many military weapons manuals are bulky, running 700 pages or more.

"You can't take that kind of data with you in your tank, but you can carry a laptop," said Don Bartick, president of 4-Ward Tech Inc., a San Diego, Calif., firm that is helping train and equip MHA.

Video tracing is more demanding than normal data conversion and it requires more training, so workers on such projects will get paid more, said Rosie Michels, the chief executive officer of MHA Systems. She expects a range of $9.50 to $10 an hour.

Data conversion work is ideal for American Indian tribes, often located in remote areas, because geography is no a barrier, Bartick said. The data conversion is labor-intensive, and therefore a good way to create jobs.

Fort Berthold, divided by Lake Sakakawea in west-central North Dakota, has an unemployment rate of 42 percent among its population of 3,776, according to the tribe.

"For some of these people, it's a career path," Bartick said.

Chris Rabbithead, 28, is now a project manager, a year and a half after he started.

Data conversion work is "very detailed - you've got to follow it to a 'T'" - but most positions require only basic computer skills, he said. Rabbithead supervises three scanners and checks image quality.

MHA Systems is one of a dozen tribal firms involved in a $60 million program to steer government work to Indian communities.

Three Affiliated Tribes Chairman Tex Hall said the idea of the tribes doing data conversion work for the government was spurred by the Bush administration's drive to "outsource" work to private companies.

"We've really strived to develop the necessary ingredients to take advantage of that," he said. "Right now we're struggling to get more contracts."

Some agencies are reluctant to turn over work to outside contractors, Hall said. "I think it's becoming very 'turfy,"' he said.

MHA has other clients, including the National Library of Medicine, which awarded the firm a $100,000 project to convert old medical journals to digital format.