Indigenous Governance Database
citizen participation
Progressing Issues of Social Importance Through the Work of Indigenous Artists: A Social Impact Evaluation of the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation’s Pilot Community Inspiration Program
In 2014, the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation (NACF) launched a new initiative, the Community Inspiration Program (CIP), which is rooted in the understanding that arts and cultures projects have an important role to play in motivating community engagement and supporting social change. This…
From the Rebuilding Native Nations Course Series: "Leaders Are Educators"
Native leaders and scholars stress that for Native nation leaders to be effective at advancing their nation's priorities, they need to do more than just make decisions -- they need to educate and consult the citizens they serve.
James R. Gray: Government Reform: Mobilizing Citizen Participation
Former Osage Nation Principal Chief Jim Gray explains the significant citizen-engagement hurdle the Osage Nation had to overcome in creating a new constitution and governance system, and how its ability to cultivate citizen participation and ownership in the development of Osage's new government…
Stirring the Ashes
One of the biggest challenges for any people is broad participation in the issues that affect everyone. And when you stop and think about it, there is very little from the smallest ripples in a family to major calamities in a community that occurs without impacting others. The notion of “mind your…
Indian Education Must Support Dual Citizenship, Nation-building
In contemporary nation states education is a key institution for the socialization and creation of citizens. Schools are designed to provide common rules of civic understanding and responsibilities. Students are taught to understand the history, goals, and functioning of government. In many ways,…
Truth To Tell: Community Connections - White Earth Constitutional Forum Part II
In collaboration with production partner KKWE/Niijii Radio, TruthToTell and CivicMedia/Minnesota traveled west on August 14, 2013, to the White Earth Reservation to air/televise the seventh in our series of LIVE Community Connections forums on critical Minnesota issues. Convened at White Earth's…
Indigenous Women and Governance in Guatemala
The concept of governance goes beyond institutional relations to encompass the integration and cohesion capacity of a particular political system. Hence, the effective functioning of the institutions of representative democracy is an important condition of governance, but it does not satisfy its…
Report on Best Practices in Developing Effective Processes of American Indian Constitutional Reform
The Executive Session on American Indian Constitutional Reform is a national working group of constitutional reformers from 12 American Indian nations and leading academics. The Executive Session meets twice a year to rethink strategies for strengthening tribal constitutions and constitution-making…
Best Practices Case Study (Meaningful Information Sharing): Squiala First Nation
Squiala First Nation is located within the boundaries of the City of Chilliwack, B.C. in the central Fraser Valley east of Vancouver. The connection of Evans Road to Ashwell through Squiala lands has been an issue of ongoing discussions between the City of Chilliwack and Squiala First Nation. In…