New Report Now Available
Native American Asset Watch: Rethinking Asset-Building in Indian Country
This report, released in June of 2009, explores current mainstream asset-building strategies and why they have not worked well in Indian Country. The report frames the historical legal and political contexts of Native American asset loss and outlines the legal and political barriers to current Native American asset control. Using case studies to inform the analysis, the report proposes a different model that recognizes that tribal asset-building is just as necessary as individual asset-building. The report proposes a way for tribes to do asset-building under their own theories and strategies.
The proposed model provides a broad definition of assets that includes tribal culture and traditions and recognizes tribal sovereignty as the overarching asset. It takes into account the range of problems created by nearly two and half centuries of oppression by addressing the need for tribes to create strong government and economic infrastructure. Asset-building theories and models that address building only individual assets fail to take these foundational assets and critical needs into account. The model includes tribal peer learning institutes and one-on-one mentoring among tribes as essential elements. Those tribes who have successfully rebuilt their governments, regained control of their assets and created new assets have much to offer tribes who are just starting or struggling.
The report, funded by a generous grant from the Kendeda Sustainability Fund of the Tides Foundation, concludes with key recommendations for asset-building in Indian Country, including:
- Tribes must take active control of their assets.
- Tribal institutional restructuring and capacity building may be needed.
- Tribes must encourage and support civic and political engagement.
- Peer learning institutes and mentoring should be established on a broad scale.
- Philanthropy should play a larger role in tribal asset-building.
- Tribes' success stories should be shared broadly.
- Federal law and policy must be changed to support tribal asset-building and give full meaning to tribal self-determination.
First Nations hopes its report will broaden and deepen the dialogue concerning how tribes can regain control of their assets, become effective managers and finally receive the benefits from their assets, instead of seeing the benefits flow away from tribal communities, as so often happens. Tribes must be able to use their assets to create the economic security that will strengthen tribal sovereignty and allow all the aspects of tribal societies to flourish. To insure that happens, more research is needed and more of the tribes' successes need to be shared with other tribes. This report provides some of that research and shares some of the stories and in doing so identifies a new model of tribal asset-building, thus laying a better path to more effective asset-building in Indian Country.
For More Information on this report, contact Catherine Bryan, Senior Program Officer, at cbryan@firstnations.org.
