Lee Allen

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How Can Tribes Relate to Off-Reservation Citizens Better? Study Aims to Help

How Can Tribes Relate to Off-Reservation Citizens Better? Study Aims to Help

How do you define “home?” “Home is where one starts from” is one explanation, while another states, “Our feet may leave home, but not our hearts.” Where you call home is especially important to Native Americans who have left the familiarity of where they grew up among fellow tribal members and…

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Tribal Transformation: Quechan Help Bring Lower Colorado River Habitat Back to Life

Tribal Transformation: Quechan Help Bring Lower Colorado River Habitat Back to Life

The Colorado River, once home to riverboats and a source of liquid sustenance to many, has been referred to as America’s Nile, the most important river in the Southwest. Until recently a section of the lower Colorado with the city of Yuma on one side and the Quechan Indian tribe on the other was a…

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Cutting Edge Tech on the Rez

Cutting Edge Tech on the Rez

Bigger isn’t always better. Arizona’s Tohono O’odham Nation covers some 2.8 million acres, only a small portion of which is occupied by the successful San Xavier District’s Hi:kdan Business Park. The tribally chartered, Native-owned private business operates under the banner: “Moving Forward with…

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Educating Indian Country’s Future Leaders

Educating Indian Country's Future Leaders

To grapple with the concept of good leaders and how to become one, 100 attendees–newly-elected and aspiring leaders from Native Nations–gathered in Tucson, Arizona November 6-7 for a specifically-developed Executive Education Seminar titled, "Emerging Leaders." Developed by the Native Nations…

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Training Program Grooms Tribal Member To Succeed Pascua Yaqui Casino Del Sol CEO

Training Program Grooms Tribal Member To Succeed Pascua Yaqui Casino Del Sol CEO

Seven years ago, 30-year gaming veteran Wendell Long (Choctaw) assumed the helm at Pascua Yaqui Casino Del Sol in Tucson, Arizona as its chief executive officer. At the time, only about half of the staff was comprised of tribal members. “We implemented a management succession program to increase…

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Hatching Success: Ak-Chin Indian Community’s Industrial Park Home to Only Egg Producer in Arizona

Hatching Success: Ak-Chin Indian Community's Industrial Park Home to Only Egg Producer in Arizona

Finally, an answer to that age-old question: “Why did the chicken cross the road?” To get to the Ak-Chin Indian Community’s Industrial Park–the site of Hickman’s Family Farms with enough hens to generate 4.3 million eggs per day. In 2002, the egg producer built a ranch at the Ak-Chin Industrial…