economic diversification
“I want to develop my breakfast-burrito business into a restaurant,” said Lisa Lengkeek, a member of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe and 2013 winner of the South Dakota Indian Business Alliance contest for best business plan of the year. “I make the burritos at home and sell them at a stand. I have a...
This lecture is part of a course Stephen Cornell is teaching in Simon Fraser University's Executive MBA in Aboriginal Business and Leadership program. A panel of three joined Dr. Cornell in a discussion about the building of First Nation economies and the role citizen entrepreneurship can play in...
Even though the city of Bemidji is surrounded by three Indian reservations, there have been few Native American-owned businesses in town. Now, a Red Lake tribal member has opened a new restaurant. It's believed to be the first American Indian-owned restaurant in the city. Owner Marv Hanson tapped...
This brief video showcases five of Four Bands Community Fund's loan clients who have used their loan proceeds to advance green and social entrepreneur concepts on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation.
As a nonprofit organization and a Native community development financial institution (CDFI) certified by the U.S. Treasury, Four Bands Community Fund continuously strives to achieve its mission of creating economic opportunity by helping people build strong and sustainable small businesses and...
The Tigua Indians of Ysleta del Sur Pueblo in Ysleta, Texas produced this 16-minute film in 2013 to demonstrate how a Native American tribe can work hard with business skills and tribal customs to shape a prosperous future through education for all levels of the Tigua Nation.
Lesley Kabotie (Crow), owner of Kabotie Consulting, provides an overview of the fundamental challenges facing Native nations as they work to rebuild their nations and communities through the development of diversified, sustainable economies on their lands. This video resource is featured on the...
In this informative interview with NNI's Ian Record, Governor Richard Luarkie of the Pueblo of Laguna discusses Laguna's approach to nation building, the roles their core values and time-tested process for cultivating effective leaders has played in that effort, and how and why Laguna has worked to...
John Yellow Hawk’s garden is one of many new feeders of Pine Ridge Indian Reservation’s developing economy. This past year, Yellow Hawk and 20 other Oglala gardeners each received a $1,000 loan and a $2,000 grant from Citigroup via Lakota Funds, a 26-year-old Native community development financial...
The Winnebago Tribe's reservation in Northeast Nebraska is home to about 2,800 enrolled members. The tribe, a federally recognized, sovereign nation, is governed by a council of nine-elected tribal members. The tribe owns a number of enterprises, including gaming operations in Iowa and Nebraska,...
