Establishing practical sovereignty through assetbased development in Native communities

1
Establishing practical sovereignty through
asset-based development in Native communities
Peter L. Morris First Nations Development
Institute Presentation to the North Australian
Research Unit Darwin, NT, Australia June 28, 2005
2
The Problem Control
The Solution Asset-based development
The Result Practical Sovereignty
3

• The Problem
• Observations from Indian Country and of the
  broader Indigenous experience.
• Adamson, Land Rich, Dirt Poor
• Salway Black, Redefining Success in Community
  Development

4

• The Solution
• Asset-based development
• Welfare reform in the US
• Asset accumulation policies to assist the
  middle-class

5
The Theory Introduced by Professor Michael
Sherraden Assets and the Poor A new American
welfare strategy Income may feed peoples
stomachs but assets change their heads.
6
Further theoretical development Tom Shapiro and
Melvin Oliver Black Wealth, White Wealth Tom
Shapiro The Hidden Cost of Being African American
7
Relevance to Indigenous policy If assets
represent potential for social and economic
development, asset inequality may be the most
fundamental racial issue in the United
States Sherraden, Inclusion in Asset Building
8
Relevance to Indigenous governance When we
think of the exercising of sovereignty, we tend
to focus exclusively on the role of tribal
government. But being a nation, in the fullest
sense, is much more encompassing. It is about
members who are engaged, productive and
responsible citizens it is about strong and
vital government and other institutions it is
about a healthy and vibrant economy it is about
supportive and loving families and kinship
networks all grounded in the values provided
by a strong cultural foundation. Salway-Black,
Assets Our once and future wealth
9

• The Result
• Ability to make and enforce their own decisions
  as individuals, families and communities.
• The Australian experience thinking outside the
  box when you dont have one!

10

• Center piece IDAs/MSAs
• What are Individual Development Accounts (IDAs)?
• Matched savings accounts
• Individual contributions to the account are
  matched by private or public funds
• An individual must be savings toward an asset
  building goal (like owning a home or starting a
  business)

11

• What they do
• Establish a banking relationship.
• Provide a teachable moment for financial literacy
  training.
• Affirm positive behavior.
• Enable accomplishment of goals.
• Provide an empowering pathway out of poverty.

12

• The State of the General IDA Field
• Widespread popularity across the United States
  and in a number of other countries.
• Investment in IDAs by more than 500 communities,
  300 banks and financial institutions, 47 states,
  and the federal government.
• At least 20,000 saving in IDA accounts.
• Bush administration funding for 600,000
  900,000 additional accounts.

13

• Cultural foundations of asset-building
• Pre-contact
• In traditional American Indian cultures, assets
  are given away. Think about ceremonies, like
  potlatches or give-aways at Pow Wows. Sharing
  and reciprocity are important. The whole point
  of possessing assets is that one can use and
  share them. Status and power are derived from
  the ability to share and to provide others in the
  community with the resources that they need. The
  pride of acquiring something is being able to
  give it away.
• -Dr. Eddie Brown, former Assistant Secretary of
  Indian Affairs, Director of American Indian
  Studies at Arizona State University

14

• Post-contact
• Indigenous rights movements, cultural
  preservation, intellectual property.

15

• First Nations and the Native IDA Field
• Active involvement in Native IDAs from 1998
• 18-20 Native programs now in existence
• First Nations has awarded almost 1 million in
  grants to 9 existing IDA programs to date.
• More than 200 participants have reached their
  savings goal.
• At least 250 active participants.
• Well over 1000 individuals positively impacted,
  along with their families and communities.

16
Early Native IDA Programs
1999 - present Cherokee Nation IDA
program Tahlequah, OK ALU LIKE IDA program HI
Entire state Oklahomans for Indian Opportunity
IDA program Norman, OK 2001 - present Umatilla
Saves IDA program Pendleton, OR Leech Lake IDA
program Cass Lake, MN White Earth IDA
program Mahnomen, MN 2002 - present The Lakota
Fund IDA program Kyle, SD Finished or
holding Fort Hall IDA program Fort Hall,
ID Redwood Valley Youth IDA program Redwood
Valley, CA Warm Springs IDA program Warm
Springs, OR
17
Rapid growth
2003 (or later) - present ICE IDA
program Flagstaff, AZ Cook Inlet Tribal
Council IDA program Anchorage, AK Wind River
Development Fund IDA program Ft. Washakie,
WY Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community IDA
program Scottsdale, AZ Navajo Partnership for
Housing St Michaels, AZ Yurok Indian Housing
Authority IDA program Northern CA Hoopa Valley
Tribe IDA program Hoopa Valley, CA Native
American Connections Phoenix, AZ White
Mountain Apache Housing Authority IDA
Program Whiteriver, AZ Many in development
from Alaska to Wisconsin!
18

• Integrating asset-building strategies
• The delivery mechanism
• Community Development Financial Institutions
  (CDFIs)
• The products
• IDAs
• The teachable moments
• Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)
• New wealth

19
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian
Reservation in Pendleton, Oregon

• Home Ownership Program, Match Rate 31
• Savings Goal 1,500 and Match 4,500
• Save a minimum of 60 per month for a period of 6
  months or longer

20
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian
Reservation in Pendleton, Oregon

• Currently 18 participants
• Two graduates on allotted land, one one fee
  simple, one fee simple HUD repossession

21
The Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma

• Savings goal 720 (2 years) save 30 per
  month.
• Participants must attend an orientation class,
  and at least 12 hours of economic literacy in the
  first 12 months of saving.

• Individual strategies for savings and
  personalized budgets are developed.
• Participants are required to attend asset
  maintenance workshops in the second 12 months of
  the savings period.

22
Cherokee Nation IDA program

• In the first three years, 40 participants
  graduated from the Cherokee Nation program.
• Participants saved a total of 18,757, earned
  match dollars of 75,120, and leveraged
  approximately 298,500 of private money.

23
Cherokee Nation IDA program use of savings

• Many new homes purchased and homes improved
• George (pictured at left, with Gina Martinez, IDA
  Coordinator) built equity in his home and then
  used his home as a means to start his own
  business a convenience store and gas station.
• One program graduate used his funds to buy land
  to start a mobile home park.
• Another bought a sewing machine to start a fabric
  crafts business.

24

• Professor Michael Sherraden
• Income may feed peoples stomachs

25
but assets change their heads.
26
And their families
27
for generations!
28
Indigenous Community Enterprises, Arizona

• Youth IDA program
• Youth build Hogan homes for elders in the
  community
• Receive financial literacy training
• Receive vocational training
• Save toward an asset building goal

29
Grandma Eula Tsinnie in front of her burned
Hogan-fall 2002.
30
Construction of Grandma Tsinnie's Hogan-winter
2002
31
(No Transcript)
32
The first graduate a transformed woman!
33

• The Result
• People equipped to govern, exercising practical
  sovereignty.

34

• Ongoing research opportunities
• Developing a Native technical assistance and
  peer-mentoring network in the Southwest and
  Oklahoma
• Developing a Native training institute
• Increasing the profile of this work in the
  academy
• Possible work in Canada and Alaska

35
Lets keep the discussion going FIRST NATIONS
DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE Peter L. Morris 2300 Fall
Hill Ave., Suite 412 Fredericksburg, VA
22401 [phone] Fax [phone]
pmorris_at_firstnations.org www.firstnations.org