Grand Traverse Band Planning and Development

Year

Faced with a growing land base and an increasing number of visitors to the reservation, the Grand Traverse Band Tribal Council established the Planning and Development Department in 1997 to build capacity within the community to accommodate new needs. The Department addressed its challenge by embarking on a comprehensive planning process that relies on community involvement at both the reservation and off-reservation levels to help identify key community needs. Since its inception, over 400 tribal members have taken part in the Department’s participatory planning process. Together with the community, the Department has overseen the development of tribal regulatory standards, housing initiatives, state-of-the-art public works projects, and plans for public spaces and public buildings. In sum, the Planning and Development Department improves the Band’s internal governance capacity and lays the groundwork for sound community growth well into the future.

Resource Type
Citation

"Grand Traverse Band Planning and Development". Honoring Nations: 2000 Honoree. The Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. Cambridge, Massachusetts. 2001. Report.

Permissions

This Honoring Nations report is featured on the Indigenous Governance Database with the permission of the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development.  

Related Resources

Thumbnail or cover image
Ahwahsiin (The Land/Where We Get Our Food): Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Contemporary Food Sovereignty on the Blackfeet Reservation

Indigenous Peoples’ knowledge and food systems are fast disappearing but are of the utmost importance, not only for sustaining Indigenous Peoples but also for providing alternative paradigms for coping with diverse ecosystems in a changing global environment. This research examines Blackfeet…

Thumbnail

Manley A. Begay, Jr. and Stephen Cornell contrast the two basic approaches to Indigenous governance -- the standard approach and the nation-building approach -- and discusses how a growing number of Native nations are moving towards nation building. It provides specific examples of how implementing…

Image
The Standing Rock Next Generation Plan

The Standing Rock Government is engaging in strategic planning. The Standing Rock strategic/government planning model differs from traditional planning models in that it defines 25 years as long term goals, 10 and 5 years as mid-term goals and takes into account the unique dynamics of the…