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
The Problem:
Control
The Solution:
Asset-based
development
The Result:
Practical
Sovereignty
The Problem
Observations from Indian Country and of the
broader Indigenous experience.
Adamson, ‘Land Rich, Dirt Poor’
Salway Black, ‘Redefining Success in Community
Development’
The Solution
Asset-based development
Welfare reform in the US
Asset accumulation policies to assist the middleclass
The Theory
Introduced by Professor Michael Sherraden:
Assets and the Poor: A new American
welfare strategy
“Income may feed people’s stomachs but
assets change their heads.”
Further theoretical development
Tom Shapiro and Melvin Oliver
Black Wealth, White Wealth
Tom Shapiro
The Hidden Cost of Being African American
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’
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’
The Result
Ability to make and enforce their own decisions as
individuals, families and communities.
The Australian experience – thinking outside the
box when you don’t have one!
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)
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.
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.
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
Post-contact
Indigenous
rights movements, cultural preservation,
intellectual property.
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.
Early Native IDA Programs
1999 - present
Cherokee Nation IDA program
ALU LIKE IDA program
Oklahomans for Indian Opportunity IDA program
Tahlequah, OK
HI – Entire state
Norman, OK
2001 - present
Umatilla Saves IDA program
Leech Lake IDA program
White Earth IDA program
Pendleton, OR
Cass Lake, MN
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
Rapid growth
2003 (or later) - present
ICE IDA program
Cook Inlet Tribal Council IDA program
Wind River Development Fund IDA program
Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community IDA program
Navajo Partnership for Housing
Yurok Indian Housing Authority IDA program
Hoopa Valley Tribe IDA program
Native American Connections
White Mountain Apache Housing Authority IDA Program
Many in development – from Alaska to Wisconsin!
Flagstaff, AZ
Anchorage, AK
Ft. Washakie, WY
Scottsdale, AZ
St Michaels, AZ
Northern CA
Hoopa Valley, CA
Phoenix, AZ
Whiteriver, AZ
Integrating asset-building strategies
The delivery mechanism
Community
Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs)
The products
IDAs
The teachable moments
Earned
New
Income Tax Credit (EITC)
wealth
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian
Reservation in Pendleton, Oregon
• Home Ownership
Program, Match Rate
3:1
• Savings Goal =$1,500;
and Match = $4,500
• Save a minimum of $60
per month for a period
of 6 months or longer
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
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.
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.
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.
Professor Michael Sherraden
“Income may feed people’s stomachs…
but assets change their heads.”
And their families
for generations!
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
Grandma Eula Tsinnie in front of her burned Hogan-fall 2002.
Construction of Grandma Tsinnie's Hogan-winter 2002
The first graduate – a transformed woman!
The Result:
People equipped to govern,
exercising practical sovereignty.
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
Let’s keep the discussion going
FIRST NATIONS DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE
Peter L. Morris
2300 Fall Hill Ave., Suite 412
Fredericksburg, VA 22401
(540) 371-5615 Fax (540) 371-3505
pmorris@firstnations.org
www.firstnations.org