Indigenous Governance Database
Economic and Community Development
Best Practices Case Study (Inter-Governmental Relations): Sliammon First Nation
In 2002, the City of Powell River, on the Sunshine Coast in south-western B.C., began construction on a seawalk park. The project inadvertently destroyed or disturbed significant cultural sites of Sliammon First Nation including petroglyphs and shell middens. Deeply concerned by the site impact and…
Best Practices Case Study (Economic Realization): Hupacasath First Nation
When Hupacasath Chief Judith Sayers and the council decided to harness the power running through their lands, the result was a best practices model of how to build a small hydro project. Widespread opposition to the Duke Point natural gas facility in the late '90s was the impetus for the council to…
Best Practices Case Study (Respect the Spirit in the Land): Champagne and Aishihik First Nations
Located in far north-western British Columbia, Tatshenshini-Alsek Park was one of the last areas of B.C. to be mapped. The area's earliest residents were the Tlingit and Tuchone First Nations. Today, with the park in the traditional territory of the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations (CAFN),…
Securing Our Futures
NCAI is releasing a Securing Our Futures report in conjunction with the 2013 State of Indian Nations. This report shows areas where tribes are exercising their sovereignty right now, diversifying their revenue base, and bringing economic success to their nations and surrounding communities. The…
Best Practices Case Study (Inter-Governmental Relations): Squamish & Lil'wat First Nations
The Squamish First Nation and the Lil'wat First Nation are both located in southwestern B.C. and have an area of overlapping traditional territory that extends into the lands around the resort community of Whistler. Although they are two distinct First Nations with different cultures and social…
Best Practices Case Study (Expansion of Jurisdiction): White Bear First Nation and SIGA
On March 22, 1993, the provincial government of Saskatchewan sent the RCMP tactical team to shut down the White Bear casino on White Bear First Nation near Carlyle citing criminal code violations. The result was a highly hostile raid where all assets and records were confiscated. "We had every…
Best Practices Case Study (Territorial Integrity): Haida Nation
Haida Gwaii (formerly known as the Queen Charlotte Islands) is an archipelago on the coast of B.C. Haida Gwaii is the pristine home to some of the world's best remaining stands of cedar, hemlock and Sitka spruce. In 1974, controversy began over logging permits being issued in Haida Gwaii. Haida…
Aboriginal Business Development Toolkit
If you're an Aboriginal person thinking about starting or expanding a business, this toolkit has been developed with you in mind. While many helpful guides exist, this document includes considerations that may be of particular interest to you, your family and your community. Whether you live on-…
Best Practices Case Study (Territorial Integrity): Yakama Nation
The Yakama Nation is located in central Washington State. Their struggles with land loss began over 150 years ago when, in 1855, the federal government pressured the Yakama to cede by treaty more than ten million acres of their ancestral homelands. In the latter half of the 1800s and early 1900s,…
Tribal sovereign immunity: An obstacle for non-Indians doing business in Indian Country?
Native American tribes consider sovereign immunity to be crucial for the protection of tribal resources and the promotion of tribal economic and social interests. Because of the uncertainties surrounding this doctrine, however, this very same tool of self-determination may be viewed as a…
The Economics of First Nations Governance Investment Capital, Money and Wealth Accumulation
There has been much said and written about the underdevelopment of Indian reserves in Canada, the lack of wealth in First Nations’ communities and the concomitant poverty of most First Nations’ people. While Canada sits at seven on the United Nations Human Development Scale this…
Tribal experience with children's accounts
“Accounts at birth” is an important idea at the frontier of savings and asset-building policy. How to make them effective is an important topic for research. This paper presents ideas and initial findings from the experience of American Indian nations–America's first asset-builders–with such…
From Gove to Governance: Reshaping Indigenous Governance in the Northern Territory
This paper attempts to identify the key challenges facing Indigenous people and governments in reshaping the architecture of Indigenous governance in the Northern Territory of Australia, and considers some strategic options for a way forward. First, a brief historical background is provided to…
Constitutions and Economic Development: Evidence from the American Indian Nations
This paper presents an empirical examination of economic and institutional development. Utilizing a novel data set on American Indian tribal nations we investigate how constitutional design affects economic development, while holding the broader legal and political environment fixed. Instrumental…
First Nation Small Business and Entrepreneurship in Canada
There are thousands of Aboriginal organizations in Canada. They are owned, managed and staffed, wholly or in part, by First Nation (status and non-status Indian), Inuit, and Métis men, women, and youth. They exist in every region in the country where they perform profit, not-for…
Native American Lands and Natural Resource Development
The rules that govern oil, gas and mining on American Indian tribal lands are complex, and the tribes that seek economic development through natural resources face a range of challenges. In this report, Revenue Watch gives an overview of the issues and describes current approaches to natural…
Statement before the United States Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Oversight Hearing on Economic Development
Why is it that, amidst the well-documented and widespread poverty and social distress that characterize American Indian reservations overall, an increasing number of Native nations are breaking old patterns and building economies, social institutions, and political systems that work? What explains…