Native American Asset Watch: Rethinking Asset-Building in Indian Country (2009)
First Nations Development Institute’s Native American Asset Watch Initiative is a comprehensive strategy for systemic economic change, which seeks to provide a range of support for efforts by Native communities to reclaim direct control of their assets and re-establish sustainable approaches to the use of land and natural resources. This investigative report, funded by the Kendeda Sustainability Fund of the Tides Foundation, explores the asset stripping purpose and effects of federal Indian law and policies, discusses existing mainstream asset-building models and then proposes a model for asset-building in Indian Country. Download the Report, Executive Summary and Case Studies

Native Asset-Building Coalitions: Promising Practices and Sustainability (2009) (10 MB)
This report identifies promising practices in the development and sustainability of Native asset-building coalitions at the regional and state level. It is designed as a tool to assist tribes and Native-serving organizations in developing and sustaining Native asset-building coalitions.

Integrated Asset-Building Strategies: A Grassroots-driven Model of Community Change (2007)
In 2007, First Nations Development Institute published a 27-year retrospective which provides an overview of First Nations' development philosophy and original research on asset building strategies such as financial education, CDFIs, IDAs, Native philanthropy, and entrepreneurship development. The full report is available for download along with individual chapters.

Asset Building in Native Communities: An Asset Building Framework (2004) (203 KB)
First Nations Development Institute was founded in 1980 with the mission to assist Native peoples to control and develop their assets, and through that control, build the capacity to direct their economic futures in ways that fit their cultures. Since inception, First Nations Development Institute (First Nations) has been working in partnership with Native communities to implement a range of asset-building programs.

Native Asset-Building Institute Conference Report (2009) (1.4 MB)
First Nations Development Institute (First Nations) hosted the 2009 Native Asset-Building Institute in Prior Lake, Minnesota, October 5-6. The Native Asset-Building Institute is part of First Nations project, the Native Asset-Building Partnership Project (NABPP). The goal of the NABPP is to strengthen tribal and Native institutions across the United States through tribal nation-to-nation peer learning and model development that will lead to improved control and management of assets for the benefit of Native communities and individuals. This project will allow tribes and Native organizations to partner around specified assets and allow them to share best practices for asset stewardship and management. This publication provides an overview of the Native Asset Building Institute held in 2009.