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Regional Tribal Prosperity Partnerships

Regional Tribal Prosperity Partnerships

By

Terrance H. Booth, Sr. – Tsimshian Tribe

Indian Country, USA is divided up into 10 different regional area offices under the US Department of Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs.  Each region has their tribal advocacy organizations so they can collectively confront the powers to be on their tribal issues.  Each area of Indian Country, USA is tuned into how to confront the elected officials and the political appointees of the Office of the President.  Tribes basically are organized whereby; there is an almost immediate response to any adverse or favorable legislation produced by state or federal governments.  

Each regional tribal organizations some have partnered with tribal Colleges, colleges and Universities to address their particular tribal issues, have workshops or training on how-to resolve issues confronting their particular tribal area.  Many times they have confronted the political appointees of their region; who are in attendance at these regional or national Native Meetings to bring resolution to whatever problems they are confronting.  Depending on the issues whether it is a local, regional or national issue the issues do get resolved.

Regional Tribal Prosperity Partnerships formation is to once and for all eliminate poverty from all of Indian Country, USA.  In our tribal past and oral history are many a tribal stories of how we once traded and bartered with one another.  In recent cultural events particularly among the Pacific Northwest tribes that are reviving canoe journeys are re-discovering how their ancestors interacted with one another and many a stories are being revived.  Through tribal advocacy organizations of each of the regions tribes are collectively working together to bring resolution to their diverse and sometime complicated issues that they are confronting.

On national basis tribes have National Congress of American Indians one of the oldest Indian Advocacy Organization that is based in Washington, DC.  In their Native Forum tribes in both mid-year and yearly meetings are able to set forth tribal resolutions needing congressional attention or adding amendments to existing or pending Congressional legislation.  Either Tribes are supportive or opposing any adverse or favorable Congressional Legislation.  So tribes have themselves for their own tribal resolutions, ability to present it at their regional tribal advocacy organization and twice a year the ability to present their issues on national basis to the National Congress of American Indians.

Primary purpose of Regional Tribal Prosperity Partnerships is the establishment of combined strategic plans to bring substantial tribal wealth development to each of the regions of Indian Country, USA.  The overall purpose is to completely eliminating poverty from all of Indian Country, USA.  All of the tribal people and their tribal representatives have lived a life of poverty and it is time to bring better to our tribal people.  It can be done by collectively working together like we are already doing with our tribal national and regional organizations.  Collectively as tribes working together brings our talents, skills, expertise, know-how and different abilities to bring prosperity to all of our tribal settings.  Instead of our educated youth going elsewhere to work it’s time to create tribal regional organizations to our settings so our talented Native youth can be closer to home and among their people.   The economic conditions of Indian Country, USA dictates that we once and for all bring solutions to ending poverty, poor economies of tribal settings and many economic leakages that need to be stopped and capture the dollars going off of our Indian Reservations.

What do us as Tribes have working for us already?  Through Congressional Legislation we have tax incentives, grants for alternative energy, grants for economic development, grants for housing, grants for transportation, grants for tribal infrastructure, law and order, scholarships, and a whole list of other programs.  We have private investors desiring to work the Indigenous of North American.  In November 2008 a delegation of 100 First Nations Tribes of Canada embarked upon Beijing, China seeking investments, joint ventures and partnerships to specifically address their tribal economies.  Some of the First Nations tribes came away from the trade mission with 100s of millions of dollars for their particular tribe.  So there are different business avenues that we can combine the tribal grants to enhance our existing tribal programs.  We have pockets of successes amid us that can act as consultants on how they worked toward bring prosperity to their tribal settings.  Under USDA – Rural Development programs much technical assistance and training takes place with this governmental agency have qualified tribes to begin taking proper steps to prosperity for their tribal people.  Alaska Natives have a premier cultural heritage center in the City of Anchorage that can serve as a model for states having large Native Populations.  About us- “An educational and cultural institution for all Alaskans, the Alaska Native Heritage Center provides programs in both academic and informal settings, including workshops, demonstrations, and guided tours of indoor exhibits and outdoor village sites.”

It attracts many a visitor that comes to Alaska.  It has a year around program from teaching cultural diversity among Alaska Natives; it works with all of the Alaska Native Tribes of Alaska.  http://www.alaskanative.net/

So across Indian Country, USA we can draw from among ourselves to bring about substantial tribal wealth development by using our own tribal expertise on how we can collectively eliminate poverty from our Native People. From the Mississippi Choctaw they have several tribal enterprises driven to eliminate poverty from their tribal people.  That tribe is one of several tribes becoming self-reliant and not only benefits their own tribal people but that of their neighbors.  It is among 10 of Mississippi’s largest employer of that state.  It will be worth the while to see how this tribe gained success.  The Choctaw Tribe of Oklahoma is among several tribes that are succeeding with their tribal economy.  USDA Rural Development has this tribe as one of the tribes to visit because of their tribal successes. 

By formation of the Regional Tribal Prosperity Partnerships will be first time in tribal history has such efforts will be made and from our own tribal perspectives and from among ourselves.  We will gain much dependency upon ourselves; rather, then have full dependency upon the federal government now having its 44th President and have yet to resolve poverty from among our people.  We know our tribal settings and what problems we face as individual tribes.  Just in employment ranging from 50-80% unemployment while the rest of America it is about 9.6%.  We as tribal people know our tribal economies need to improve, begin to move into global economy, work for ourselves instead of working for others, formation of fisheries cooperatives, agriculture cooperatives, beef and cattle cooperatives, arts cooperatives, cultural cooperatives and other cooperatives as we begin to take an inventory of what exists among us as tribes and how can we maximize our natural resources, our talents and abilities, our tribal expertise, and our tribal wisdom to retain and remain who we are as tribal people. 

What will happen?  We will see our own human resources with their talents, skills, knowledge, know-how and education to be finally used to our tribal advantage.  Pooling of our tribal resources with one tribe with an abundance of resources and another tribe with the ability and know-how to value add these resources.  We know the tribal economic leakages and with the tribal regional partnerships we can see how we as tribes can capture the dollars that are otherwise spent off reservation settings.  Thus, once these economic leakages are captured we then have tribal prosperity keeping dollars within our reservation settings.  We as tribes expend much of our tribal dollars for goods and services with dollars going off of our reservation settings and that means dollars are leaving our reservations; instead of being spent on our reservation settings. 

Collectively, we will see that we will have better access to funding sources, improve point of contact for potential investors, even benefactors desiring to work with the Indigenous of North America.  We as tribes will see many jobs being created and many of our tribal people becoming part of our tribal workforce.  We can and will have a market niche on our own tribal products, with our own tribal labeling and even might have formation of our own Native Grocery stores with all the agriculture products grown from Indian Country, USA.  We will and become the Energy Czars of America for every Tribe has Solar, Wind, Water and Biomass.  It is to turn it all into energy for our neighbors and America will need 70% more electricity by the year 2016.  Several tribes through the Department of Energy have already done feasibility studies to see what alternative energy will work for them. 

It is time that we as Tribes develop a vibrant tribal economy.  We have our own tribal resources to tap into and it is to identify who we are and collectively together begin to take strategic regional plans to eliminate poverty from our tribal people.  President Obama says we will not be forgotten.  Let’s with a resounding effort start to bring tribal economic improvement for the good of our tribal people and build a tribal legacy of economic growth and prosperity.

About the Author

The 700 Club – May 10, 2011 – CBN.com