Indigenous Governance Database
Small Business
Gardens Flourish on Pine Ridge
John Yellow Hawk’s garden is one of many new feeders of Pine Ridge Indian Reservation’s developing economy. This past year, Yellow Hawk and 20 other Oglala gardeners each received a $1,000 loan and a $2,000 grant from Citigroup via Lakota Funds, a 26-year-old Native community development financial…
A Place Called Poarch PCI: all about diversifying
The Poarch Band of Creek Indians didn’t coin the phrase “economic development,” but they are certainly taking it to new heights. With revenue from successful gaming venues in the state and the drive to diversify their economic interests, the Poarch Band of Creek Indians is working on several…
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…
White Earth and Tsleil-Waututh Nations Partner on Community Wind Power
Two tribes, from different sides of the 49th Parallel, are reuniting Turtle Island with a business deal. A First Nations—owned company in British Columbia will supply wind power to the White Earth Community Service Center in Naytahwaush and to the Ojibwa Building Supplies facility in Waubun, the U.…
The Private Sector: More Than a Job Creator
Jobs, jobs, jobs. They’re on everyone’s mind these days, and Creator knows our reservations are in dire need of jobs. While America has experienced a lingering unemployment rate around the 9th percentile for the past couple of years, our reservations have been enduring unemployment rates much…
South Dakota maker of bison snack bar expects big growth with Whole Foods partnership
A South Dakota company created to provide a healthy snack for American Indians expects its sales to grow by a third this year after seeing its product picked up by national grocery chain Whole Foods Markets. The development also could lead to more hiring at Native American Natural Foods in Kyle,…
Business loans aim to boost Native American entrepreneurship
Even though the city of Bemidji is surrounded by three Indian reservations, there have been few Native American-owned businesses in town. Now, a Red Lake tribal member has opened a new restaurant. It's believed to be the first American Indian-owned restaurant in the city. Owner Marv Hanson tapped…
The Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development and its Application to Canadian Aboriginal Business
This lecture is part of a course Stephen Cornell is teaching in Simon Fraser University's Executive MBA in Aboriginal Business and Leadership program. A panel of three joined Dr. Cornell in a discussion about the building of First Nation economies and the role citizen entrepreneurship can play in…
Rebuilding The Tigua Nation
The Tigua Indians of Ysleta del Sur Pueblo in Ysleta, Texas produced this 16-minute film in 2013 to demonstrate how a Native American tribe can work hard with business skills and tribal customs to shape a prosperous future through education for all levels of the Tigua Nation.
Cherokee Nation's Kawi Café offers small business training
The Cherokee Nation’s Kawi Café is now serving up its signature Cherokee blend coffee in downtown Tahlequah, while giving budding entrepreneurs firsthand experience running their own business. A ribbon-cutting was held Thursday at the café, which the Cherokee Nation opened last month in a 1,096-…
Building a More Sustainable Future on Cheyenne River
This brief video showcases five of Four Bands Community Fund's loan clients who have used their loan proceeds to advance green and social entrepreneur concepts on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation.
Smoke Traders
Told from a Native perspective, "Smoke Traders" looks at the controversy ignited by the Mohawk Nation's involvement in the tobacco trade, raising issues of sovereignty, economic independence and entrepreneurship versus what some see as illegal contraband activity. The multi-million dollar cigarette…
The Ways: Lake Superior Whitefish: Carrying on a Family Tradition
The Petersons are part of a long tradition of commercial fishing among Lake Superior tribes. Avid fishermen for subsistence prior to European settlement, the Lake Superior Chippewa quickly found Gichigami’s (Ojibwe word for Lake Superior) fish to be a valued trade item once explorers penetrated to…
The Best Practices in Rural Alberta Project
The Best Practices in Rural Alberta Project culminated in September 2012, after two and a half years of community engagement; research into the examination of leadership strengths and practices; incredible youth development; and video capture in preparation for a documentary film. This documentary…
PBS "We Shall Remain": Micro-Loans
Kristi Coker, executive director of the Citizen Potawatomi Community Development Corporation, discusses how the CPCDC, one of more than 30 Native Community Development Financial Institutions in the U.S. hopes to build Native economies through small loans to Native entrepreneurs...
Native Report: Sister Sky
This edition of Native Report profiles Sister Sky, an innovative Native American company that is really owned by two sisters. (Segment placement: 8:33-15:40)
PBS "We Shall Remain": Spotlight on the Citizen Potawatomi Nation
Tribal Chairman John "Rocky" Barrett discusses how the Citizen Potawatomi Nation has become an economic powerhouse in Shawnee, Oklahoma. Key to the tribe’s success has been the decision to reinvest casino earnings to build new businesses rather than dividing the casino dividends and sending…
Native Entrepreneurship in South Dakota: A Deeper Look
Native Entrepreneurship in South Dakota: a Deeper Look is designed to raise the profile of Native entrepreneurship in South Dakota and offer lessons for policymakers, foundations, tribes, and non-profits in developing effective policies and strategies. The research identified the following key…
Ho-Chunk Village
Through the creation of new job opportunities at Ho-Chunk, Inc., there came the need for additional housing on the Winnebago Reservation. The Ho-Chunk Village concept was developed to fulfill that void. Upon its completion, the Ho-Chunk Village's residential area will include over 110 housing units…
Minding Our Own Businesses: how to create support in First Nations communities for Aboriginal Business
The purpose of the project was to investigate what other First Nations have done to support their small business operators, and to create a process to look at what could be done in your community...