Indigenous Governance Database
Economic and Community Development
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…
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 (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 (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…
The Last Stand: the Quinault Indian Nation's Path to Sovereignty and the Case of Tribal Forestry
This case tells a story of forestry management policies on the Quinault Reservation. In the early years, the Office of Indian Affairs (OIA) and later the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) acted like a landlord, allocating large timber sales to non-Indian timber companies. The Dawes Act fragmented the…
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…
What Determines Indian Economic Success? Evidence from Tribal and Individual Indian Enterprises
Prior analysis of American Indian nations’ unemployment, poverty, and growth rates indicates that poverty in Indian Country is a problem of institutions—particularly political institutions—not a problem of economics per se. Using unique data on Indian-owned enterprises, this paper sheds light…
Economic Development Toolkit for First Nations Economic Development Officers, Chiefs and Councils and Community Members: Basic Information and Guide
First Nations are becoming more and more involved in economic development within their communities. In order to carry on business, First Nations are incorporating companies, societies and other business structures. It is important for members to understand the difference between sole…
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-…
Tribal Economic Development: Nuts & Bolts
Tribal economic development is a product of the need for Indian tribes to generate revenue in order to pay for the provision of governmental services. Unlike the federal government or states, Indian tribes – in general – have no viable tax base from which to generate revenues sufficient to…
Best Practices Case Study (Economic Realization): Osoyoos Indian Band
The Osoyoos Indian Band (OIB) is located in the interior of British Columbia. They are a member community of the Okanagan Nation Alliance. The Band was formed in 1877 and is home to about 370 on-reserve band members. The goal of the OIB is to move from dependency to a sustainable economy like that…
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),…
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…
Waiving Goodbye to Tribal Sovereign Immunity?
Tribal sovereign immunity, the legal principle that Indian tribal governments, like other sovereigns may not be sued without their own consent, is under a full frontal attack...Unless Indian Country reacts to such scathing judicial indictments through more strategically thought out assertions of…
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…
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…
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-profit, co-…
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 would dramatically…