Native Asset-Building Partnership Project
First Nations Development Institute launched the Native Asset-Building Partnership Project (NABPP) to help tribes develop tools and infrastructure for control of their assets. The NABPP is geared to strengthen tribal institutions in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and North Dakota through peer learning and model development that will lead to improved control and management of assets for the benefit of Native communities and individuals. First Nations’ goal is to foster partnerships between tribes and allow them to share best practices for asset stewardship and management.
In 2012, First Nations received grant support to help develop and facilitate two partnerships between (1) the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin and the Hopi Tribe, and (2) the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe and the Spokane Tribe, in order to strengthen the tribal infrastructure through peer learning and model development. The partnerships are based on a mentor-mentee relationship model where one tribe with an established program model assists another tribe in developing a similar program in their tribal community. In the first partnership, the Hopi tribe will share best practices with the Oneida Nation for developing infrastructure to establish an endowment fund. In the second partnership, the Mille Lacs Band will work with the Spokane tribe to build on human capital so Mille Lacs can improve its natural resource division and engage the community with this division. The generous financial support for this project is being provided by the Otto Bremer Foundation.
The Department of Natural Resources for the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe and Sovereign Power Inc. have both brought different expertise and experience to this partnership, which has focused on alternative energy development, including wind and solar and various forest management practices. In 2010, representatives from this partnership held their third annual meeting on the Mille Lacs reservation in Onamia, Minnesota. The main topic of discussion was woody biofuel production, taking into consideration that biomass power is the largest source of renewable energy. Woody biomass consists of trees and woody plants, including limbs, tops, needles, leaves, and other woody parts, grown in a forest, woodland, or rangeland environment, and that are the by-products of forest management. Discussion at this meeting focused on the necessary steps for woody biomass production, including business approaches and cultural considerations to making biomass production work on Indian lands.
