NNI and Harvard Project Research

Per Capita Distributions of American Indian Tribal Revenues: A Preliminary Discussion of Policy Considerations

Year

This paper examines policy considerations relevant to per capita distributions of tribal revenues. It offers Native nation leaders and citizens food for thought as they consider whether or not to issue per capita payments and, if they choose to do so, how to structure the distribution of funds and make that distribution serve tribal goals. We describe this as a "preliminary discussion" because it represents only the first stage of an ongoing research project examining tribal per capita distribution policies and their effects.

Resource Type
Citation

Cornell, Stephen, Miriam Jorgensen, Stephanie Carroll Rainie, Ian Record, Ryan Seelau, Rachel Rose Starks. "Per Capita Distributions of American Indian Tribal Revenues: A Preliminary Discussion of Policy Considerations." Published for the 2007 National Congress of the American Indians Annual Convention. Native Nations Institute for Leadership, Management and Policy, The University of Arizona. Tucson, Arizona. November 2007. Paper.

Can Australia follow Obama's lead?

Year

This article was prompted by US President Barack Obama’s recent commitment to effectively empower American Indian nations to re-build their own decision-making capability. The President recognises that genuine self-determination is not only good public policy but is essential for moving forward. Stephen suggests that in Australia the evidence similarly shows that when Indigenous communities make their own decisions, the outcomes can have a transformative impact on people’s lives. 

Resource Type
Topics
Citation

Cornell, Stephen. "Can Australia follow Obama's lead?" Reconciliation News, Issue No. 17. Reconciliation Australia. Australia. May 2010. Article.

Statement before the United States Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Oversight Hearing on Economic Development

Year

Why is it that, amidst the well-documented and widespread poverty and social distress that characterize American Indian reservations overall, an increasing number of Native nations are breaking old patterns and building economies, social institutions, and political systems that work? What explains the stark differences in development we now see across Indian Country? 

Native Nations
Resource Type
Citation

Jorgensen, Miriam. "Oversight Hearing on Economic Development." The United States Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. Cambridge, Massachusetts. May 10, 2006. Report. (https://www.indian.senate.gov/sites/default/files/upload/files/Jorgensen051006.pdf, accessed January 2, 2023)

Tribal experience with children's accounts

Year

“Accounts at birth” is an important idea at the frontier of savings and asset-building policy. How to make them effective is an important topic for research. This paper presents ideas and initial findings from the experience of American Indian nations–America's first asset-builders–with such policies. It describes the motivations for creating “minors' accounts,” which are offered by approximately 70 tribes. These tribes are the only jurisdictions in the nation to offer universal, unrestricted accounts for children. Increasingly, they also are using conditions and incentives to promote their policy goals. Their experiences offer important insights for mainstream policy makers and program managers (in the United States and elsewhere) about how to design effective children's accounts policy. The paper closes by stressing a two-way flow of information, as ideas and research findings from non-tribal communities offer new ways to strengthen tribal minors' account policies and further Native nations' welfare-enhancing goals. 

Resource Type
Citation

Jorgensen, Miriam, Peter Morris, "Tribal experience with children's accounts," Children and Youth Services Review, Volume 32, Issue 11, Pages 1528-1537. Elsevier. November 2010. Paper.