Placing SRI within the Native American World Today Stephen Cornell Native Nations Institute Universi

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Placing SRI withinthe Native American World
TodayStephen CornellNative Nations Institute
(University of Arizona) Harvard Project on
American Indian Economic DevelopmentNovember 2,
2007
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A quiet revolution is underway in Indian
Country.It is not the gaming revolution. It is
the self-determination revolution. It is
transforming American Indian nations.
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American Indian NationsAn Overview
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Who Are They? (2000)

• 562 Tribes and Tribal Groups (incl. 200 Alaska
  Native Villages)
• 3.1 million citizens of Indigenous nations
• 837,000 on reservations, in Alaska villages, or
  in Oklahoma Indian areas
• 381,000 Americans speak 250 Indigenous languages
• Indian nations remain culturally diverse

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American Indian nations today retain considerable
powers of self-government. These powers are
rooted in their inherent sovereignty as the
original occupants of North America, in the U.S.
Constitution, in treaties with the United States,
and in court and Congressional actions.
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Those nations exercise significant control over
(among other things)

• Citizenship
• Governmental Form
• Law Making and Enforcement
• Dispute Resolution (Court Systems)
• Civil Affairs
• Some Criminal Matters
• Taxation
• Lands and Natural Resources
• Environmental Regulation
• Business Permitting and Regulation
• Cultural and Religious Affairs

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2. Socio-Economic Conditionsin Indian Country
Today
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Health

• American Indians and Alaska Natives experience
  twice the U.S. rate of sudden infant death
  syndrome
• Type 2 diabetes is twice the U.S. rate
• Tuberculosis is about 4 times the U.S. rate
• Adult death from chronic liver disease and
  cirrhosis is about five times the U.S. rate
• The reported suicide rate among American Indians
  and Alaska Natives is 60 higher than the U.S.
  rateand higher still among youth

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Housing

• On tribal lands, according to the 2000 U.S.
  Census, 14.7 of households were overcrowded (vs.
  5.7 nationally)
• Also in 2000, nearly 14 of reservation houses
  lacked complete plumbing (vs. 0.6 nationally)

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Unemployment by Bureau of Indian Affairs
Administrative Region, 2003
Source Bureau of Indian Affairs (2003). These
estimates include persons resident on or near
reservations who are eligible for BIA-funded
services. Data are self-reported by tribes and,
given tribes limited resources and the
difficulty of gathering data in large rural
areas, should be used with caution. They
nonetheless suggest the overall state of
reservation economies.
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Public Safety Resources Available to
Reservation Police Departments, 2000
Source Wakeling et al., National Institute of
Justice (2000)
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Selected Federal Spending on American Indians and
Alaska Natives
Source U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (2003)
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3. A Quiet Revolution
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But these are snapshots. In fact, Indian Country
is changing.The self-determination era
(mid-1970s to the present) has seenfor the first
time in the history of U.S. Indian
policysignificant positive change in social and
economic conditions on Indian reservations.This
is most evident in the decade of the 1990s.
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Indian nations also are developing creative
solutions to difficult societal challenges. For
example

• Fond du Lac child welfare program
• Navajo court system
• Citizen Potawatomi health system
• Salish Kootenai College
• Chickasaw home ownership program
• Red Lake Chippewa walleye recovery
• Cherokee language recovery

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What accounts for these changes?
Self-determination has been a critical factor.
But these results are not evenly distributed
across Indian nations. Those who have done best
have backed up their powers of self-government
with capable governing institutions that have the
support of their peoples.
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4. Looking Ahead
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Three Challenges

• Dealing with success
• Haves and have-nots
• Economic development vs. community and cultural
  survival
• The effective use of new power
• Building and maintaining capable governing
  institutions
• The assault on tribal sovereignty