Indigenous Governance Database
NNI and Harvard Project Research
Grand Traverse Band Tribal Court
Constitutionally separated from the political influences of government, the Tribal Court hears more than 500 cases per year, and utilizes "peacemaking" to mediate in cases in which dispute resolution is preferred to an adversarial approach. The Court adjudicates on such issues as child abuse,…
Trust Resource Management (Salish and Kootenai)
For more than three decades, the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) have been building capable governing institutions and taking over management of resources and programs previously managed by outsiders. Recognizing that self-management both allows the tribal government to determine its…
Osage Nation Governmental Reform Initiative
At the turn of the 20th century, the US government abolished the 1881 Osage Nation Constitution and imposed rules for land ownership and citizenship. Many Osage citizens were disenfranchised and the Tribal Council was granted only limited powers, which lead to years of weak government, corruption,…
Kayenta Township Tax Initiative for Economic Development
In 1997, Kayenta became the first township on the Navajo Nation to take advantage of new opportunities for local governmental authority by implementing a 2.5% retail tax that brings in hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. This revenue has enabled the Township to build a solid waste transfer…
White Earth Suicide Intervention Team
The White Earth Suicide Intervention Team (WESIT) was created in 1990 in response to an extraordinarily high rate of suicide attempts and completions among tribal members living on the White Earth Reservation. With the Tribal Council’s official support, a group of volunteers came together following…
Umatilla Public Transit
In most rural areas of America, if you do not have a car it is difficult to get around. Without transportation, people must depend on friends or family for rides. It can be tough to plan medical appointments, maintain work schedules, shop for necessities, or sign up for classes. The Confederated…
California Fee-to-Trust Consortium
The loss of traditional land is a source of longstanding trauma for Native nations. It has far reaching consequences that began at the time of dispossession and persist today. Many tribes struggle to regain territory in order to support the basic needs of their citizens – housing, economic…
Tulalip Alternative Sentencing Program
Born out of a need to create a judicial system that Tulalip citizens can trust and that also helps offenders to recover rather than just "throwing them away," the Tulalip Tribal Court Alternative Sentencing Program supports efforts to establish a crime free community. Focusing on the mental,…
Blackfeet Nation's Siyeh Corporation
For years the Blackfeet Nation struggled to create sustainable tribal enterprises that could produce revenue for the nation and meet the needs of its citizens for jobs and services. Many of these efforts did not succeed because of conflicts within the tribal government. In 1999, the Nation tried a…
Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Monitors Program
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe is located on 2.3 million acres of land in the central regions of North and South Dakota. Land issues rose to the forefront of tribal concerns after events such as allotment, lands flooding after the Army Corps of Engineers built a series of dams adjacent to the Tribe…
Navajo's Pine Hill Health Center
In the Ramah Chapter of the Navajo Nation–as in many parts of Indian Country–late detection of breast cancer leads to disproportionally high rates of breast cancer mortality. Ramah Navajo’s Pine Hill Health Center devised a creative response: it launched a series of "Mammo Days," educational and…
Jicarilla Apache's Wildlife and Fisheries Management Program
Recognized by state game and fish agencies as being one of the best of its kind, JGFD’s program includes a game and fish code and a wildlife management fund for habitat enhancement projects. The program restored the reservation’s mule deer population and trophy trout, and established a commercial…
Saginaw Chippewa Tribal Land Title and Records Office
With the ultimate goal of seeing a time when Native people and nations once again own and manage the land within the boundaries of every reservation as well as those lands that are culturally important to them beyond reservations, the Tribal Land Title and Records Office keeps all records and…
Navajo Nation Judicial Branch: New Law and Old Law Together
The Judicial Branch of the Navajo Nation seeks to revive and strengthen traditional common law while ensuring the efficacy of the Nation’s western-based court model adopted by the Nation. With over 250 Peacemakers among its seven court districts, the Judicial Branch utilizes traditional methods of…
Hopi Jr./Sr. High: Two Plus Two Plus Two
Developed in 1997, the Two Plus Two Plus Two college transition program is a partnership between Hopi Junior/Senior High School, Northland Pioneer College, and Northern Arizona University. The program recruits junior and senior high school students to enroll in classes (including distance learning…
Minnesota 1837 Ceded Territory Conservation Code (Mille Lacs)
In 1997, the Band successfully developed a conservation code that enables the Tribe to exercise its treaty rights to hunt, fish, and gather. The Code sets out detailed hunting and fishing regulations for Band members that protect the natural resources while allowing for the continuation of…
The Healing Lodge of the Seven Nations
Owned by a consortium of seven tribes, the Healing Lodge is a treatment center that helps Native American youth and their families heal from the trauma of alcohol and drug abuse. With a focus on blending culture and spirituality with mental health/chemical dependency treatment, services include in-…
Idaho Gray Wolf Recovery Program (Nez Perce)
By developing a plan that includes monitoring, outreach, species management/control, and research, the Tribe is now leading the statewide recovery of the endangered Gray Wolf. The recovery program, which meets the guidelines developed by the US Fish and Wildlife Services, has resulted in a wolf…
Coeur d'Alene Tribal Wellness Center
Created in 1998, the Wellness Center aims to promote healthy lifestyles by offering programs in fitness, aquatics, rehabilitation, childcare, and community health to 3,000 Indian and non-Indian clients. By employing the medicine wheel, or whole-life, approach to health and by focusing on…
Navajo Studies Department
Created in 1966 as the first contract school in the country, Rough Rock is a Navajo-run institution that combines traditional Navajo learning with Western education. Its Navajo Studies curriculum, which addresses such subjects as culture, history, and language, was named by the Tribal Council as…