Asset Building in Native Communities

First Nations Development Institute provides information about asset-building in Native communities.

   
 

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.

   

 

Integrated Asset-Building Strategies

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.

   
 

Integrated Asset Building Strategies for Reservation-Based Communities: A 27 Year Retrospective of First Nations Development Institute (2007) (5.3 MB)

   
 

Chapter 2: Financial Education (3.25 MB)
Chapter 2 begins with two introductory sections that demonstrate the importance of both developing financial management skills and increasing research related to the potential effects of increasing financial education opportunities in Native communities. The chapter is then broken into three sections focused on topics seen as essential for developing greater financial management and investment skills in Native communities

   
 

Chapter 3: Native IDAs (2.7 MB)
This chapter provides an overview of IDA programs in Native communities.

   
 

Chapter 4: Native Philanthropy (2.8 MB)
This chapter focuses on Native grantmaking institutions, discusses grantmaking models, and attempts to provide a road map through the sometimes confusing field of Native grantmaking organizations. Regardless of the model chosen for the philanthropic program, a large and growing number of tribes and Native nonprofits are using philanthropy to protect Native financial assets, capitalize economic development programs in their communities, and protect and support their cultures. As part of an integrated asset-building program, Native-controlled grantmaking entities are supporting institution building through capitalizing nascent nonprofits in Native communities, and through funding innovative asset-building strategies.

   
 

Chapter 5: Earned Income Tax Credit (3.1 MB)
This chapter addresses the current and potential economic power related to the receipt of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) in Native communities.

   
 

Chapter 6: Native Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) (3.0 MB)
This chapter discusses Native Community Development Financial Institutions (Native CDFIs) which offer a locally controlled, community-responsive resource for credit and other financial services to support asset-based development in Native communities.

   
 

Chapter 7: Native Entrepreneurship (3.3 MB)
Approaches to entrepreneurship and enterprise development in Native communities are as diverse as the communities themselves. This chapter addresses the complex and multifaceted opportunities and challenges associated with entrepreneurship development in Native communities.

   

 

Native American Asset Watch: Rethinking Asset-Building in Indian Country

Native American Asset Watch: Rethinking Asset-Building in Indian Country

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 American Asset Watch: Rethinking Asset-Building in Indian Country (2009) (1.6 MB)
 
Executive Summary (3.3 MB)
 
Case Study 1: The Water Assets of “The River People” - A Case Study of the Gila River Indian Community (734 KB)
     
 
 
Case Study 2: Building a Water and Energy Homeland Three Affiliated Tribes (Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Tribes) Ft. Berthold Indian Reservation, North Dakota - A Case Study on Tribal Natural Resource Asset Control, Management and Protection (394 MB)
 
Case Study 3: Western Shoshone Defense Project (330 KB)
 Case Study 4: Native Water Rights and Resources: Managing The Trust Asset Wind River Indian Reservation - A Case Study in the Management and Protection of Tribal Water Resource Assets (492 KB)
     
   
Case Study 5: Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (201 KB) Case Study 6: Native American Asset Watch Initiative: Grantee Project Profiles (330 KB)