Indigenous Governance Database
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Honoring Nations: Joyce Wells: Project Falvmmichi
Choctaw Nation Healthy Lifestyles Program Director Joyce Wells describes how a 16-year-old Choctaw citizen transformed her idea and passion into a comprehensive education and mentoring program that seeks to prevent domestic violence in Choctaw communities.
Honoring Nations: Don Corbine: The Bad River Chippewa Recycling/Solid Waste Department
Former Manager Don Corbine of the Bad River Recycling/Sold Waste Department shares how the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Tribe is using recycling to clean up their community and reinvigorate community pride among its citizens.
Honoring Nations: Tom Hampson: Native Asset Building
ONABEN Executive Director Tom Hampson discusses the resilient entrepreneurial spirit that exists in Indian Country, and how it can be a key to transformative change in Native communities.
Honoring Nations: Juana Majel-Dixon: The Violence Against Women Task Force
Juana Majel-Dixon, Chair of NCAI's Task Force on Violence Against Women, reflects on the work of the Task Force on Violence Against Women and their efforts to push for passage of the Violence Against Women Act in Congress.
From the Rebuilding Native Nations Course Series: "Justice Systems and Cultural Match"
Professor Robert A. Williams, Jr. argues that Native nations can reintegrate their unique cultures and common law into their governance systems, specifically their systems for resolving disputes and providing justice to their citizens and others.
David Montgomery: The Quinault Indian Nation's Q-munity Roadmap
In this interview with NNI's Ian Record, Quinault Indian Nation Budget Officer David Montgomery provides a comprehensive overview of Quinault's Q-munity Roadmap performance-based budgeting process, and discusses how citizen education and engagement has proven crucial to the success of this…
Honoring Nations: Mary Etsitty: The Navajo Nation Sales Tax
Mary Etsitty, Former Executive Director of the Office of the Navajo Tax Commission, discusses how and why the Navajo Nation sales tax was established, and how the Office of the Navajo Tax Commission works to consult and educate Navajo citizens about the need for -- and benefits of --…
Honoring Nations: Tom Hampson: Native Asset Building (Q&A)
ONABEN Executive Director Tom Hampson fields audience questions about ONABEN's work and strategies for cultivating entrepreneurship in Indian Country.
Jaime Pinkham: How Do You Hit the Ground Running?: Strategies for Handling the Load and Forging Ahead
Former Nez Perce Tribal Treasurer Jaime Pinkham speaks about his experience as a leader of his nation and what it takes to "hit the ground running" when one assumes a leadership role.
Sheila Morago: Keys to Effective Lobbying
Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association Executive Director Sheila Morago share some keys to effective lobbying --including being mindful of time, the issues, and audience -- and argues that Native nation leaders are their nations' own best advocates.
Priscilla Iba: Osage Government Reform
Osage Government Reform Commission Member Priscilla Iba discusses the historical factors that prompted the Osage Nation to create an entirely new constitution and governance system, and how the Nation went to great lengths to cultivate the participation and ownership of Osage citizens in the…
Sheila Morago, Jill Peters, and Theresa M. Pouley: Some Tools to Govern Effectively (Q&A)
Sheila Morago, Jill Peters, and Theresa M. Pouley field questions from the audience concerning lobbying, the importance of public education about tribal sovereignty and development, and how the Tulalip Tribal Court deals with fetal alcohol syndrome and its effects.
Wilma Mankiller: Governance, Leadership and the Cherokee Nation
As part of its ongoing interview series "Leading Native Nations," the Native Nations Institute (NNI) interviewed Wilma Mankiller, the late and former Chief of the Cherokee Nation, in September 2008. In the interview, she discussed her compelling personal story as well as the challenges the Cherokee…
Native Nation Building TV: "Constitutions and Constitutional Reform"
Guests Joseph P. Kalt and Sophie Pierre explore the evidence that strong Native nations require strong foundations, which necessarily require the development of effective, internally created constitutions (whether written or unwritten). It examines the impacts a constitution has on the people it…
Return of the Red Lake Walleye (trailer)
The Native Nations Institute film Return of the Red Lake Walleye chronicles the extraordinary effort of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians working together with the State of Minnesota and the federal government to bring back the culturally vital walleye from the brink of extinction and restore…
Frank Pommersheim: A Key Constitutional Issue: Dispute Resolution
University of South Dakota Professor of Law Frank Pommersheim discusses the key constitutional issue of dispute resolution and presents three cases demonstrating how tribes are endowing their constitutions with legitimacy through the careful, thoughtful resolution of disputes.
Frank Pommersheim: A Key Constitutional Issue: Dispute Resolution (Q&A)
University of South Dakota Professor of Law Frank Pommersheim fields audience questions about the importance of civic engagement to constitutional reform, removing the Secretary of Interior Approval clause from tribal constitutions, and other important topics.
Todd Hembree: A Key Constitutional Issue: Separations of Powers
Cherokee Nation Attorney General Todd Hembree discusses the critical role of separations of powers in effective Native nation governance, and provides an overview of how the Cherokee Nation instituted an array of separations of powers in the development of their new constitution, which was ratified…
Julia Coates: The Process of Constitutional Reform: What the Cherokee Nation Did and Why
Cherokee Nation Councilor Julia Coates presents an overview of the constitutional history of the Cherokee Nation, and chronicles the process the Cherokee Nation followed to reform its constitution in 1999.
Gwen Phillips: Reforming the Ktunaxa Nation Constitution: What We're Doing and Why
Gwen Phillips, Director of Corporate Services and Governance Transition for the Ktunaxa Nation, discusses how Ktunaxa is using the British Columbia treaty process to reconceive and restructure its governance system from the ground up in order to revitalize Ktunaxa culture, language and core values…