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Congratulations On Successful Dissertation Defense, Laura Taylor and Graham Noblit

By Professor Joseph P. Kalt Ford Foundation Professor (Emeritus) of International Political Economy       &  Co-Director, Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development

Congratulations to Laura and Graham!  Both professionally and personally, and more than we can express in words, we have enjoyed and benefitted from having you in our orbit.

Laura’s thesis (in economics at the University of Arizona) is a seminal – like, seminal – work on the economics of what colonialism has meant for tribal land and water rights. She, for example, dissects the economic drivers of where, when, and why tribes’ lands were taken and are what they are today.  Similarly, her thesis demonstrates the impacts of the long and litigious processes tribes have had to use in the last 40+ years in efforts to secure water rights which they have long possessed in principle, but which they have not had in practice (and water “in principle” cannot grow a single ear of corn or fill a single glass to drink).  The punchline is powerful:  During the long court, settlement, and congressional processes by which tribal water rights have been gradually clawed back by tribes in the era of self-determination, non-Indian water users typically abuse the resource through pollution and overuse.  This happens because those users know the long-term consequences of misuse will most likely end up being borne by post-settlement tribal users.  In the process of doing her work – and no small accomplishment in its own right – Laura has created the most complete datasets and computational capacities covering tribal and former-tribal land and water resources that exist.  These will benefit Indian Country for decades to come.  With all of this, it is no surprise that Laura is continuing to play a major role in the Harvard Project’s “Landback” initiative.  As Laura heads off to a post-doc position at Caltech, we will wish her well – and we will be making every effort to keep the famous Harvard Project you-can-never-really-leave tentacles attached to her.

Graham’s thesis (in Harvard’s Department of Human Evolutionary Biology) represents truly – like, truly – pathbreaking work on the roles and intersections of “culture and institutions” – a phrase that probably appears a thousand times in Harvard Project research writings.  Under the “cultural match” banner associated with HPAIED, we have always tried to make progress on how and when cultural norms work to stabilize or undermine institutions – particularly institutions of self-government.  And we have also tried to get a handle on the forces that cause cultural norms to change and evolve over time.  Graham’s work contributes hugely to these and related questions, and does it with implications that apply to all human societies.  For example, drawing on information from Indigenous and non-Indigenous settings, Graham shows when and how cultural strategies of ostracism can help hold communities together.  In related work using data on the evolution of “lineage” groups in China over centuries, Graham explores how these lineages manifest themselves today in community cultural norms and attitudes toward the Chinese central government, and how and why those norms have evolved in the ways they have.  So many people think that “culture” is too squishy to hold onto as a source of explanation for very concrete things like the effectiveness of governmental institutions or why community A has its act together and community B is tearing itself apart.  Graham’s work is teaching us all how to get concrete and ultimately practical answers to these kinds of questions.  As he heads off to a post-doc position at the University of Toronto, we wish him luck and we’ll be trying to keep him attached to tribal issues over what promises to be a very influential career.

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We are pleased to announce the newest member of the Harvard Project team, Eleanore Lammers-Lewis.

Eleanore is a recent graduate from Santa Clara University where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Anthropology and a minor in Sustainability. Her time in college included summer field studies in Costa Rica conducting primatology research, as well as ethnographic research in California. Most recently, Eleanore worked with The Wilderness Society assisting the Native Lands Partnerships program. Eleanore is filling a valuable role at the Harvard Project as the Program and Faculty Assistant. Welcome, Eleanore!

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Honoring Nations 2021 Semifinalists

Agua Caliente People Curriculum | Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians

As with many checkerboard reservations, Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians and the city of Palm Springs share boundaries, public resources, and urban development. In spite of these many intersections, for decades the only lessons about the Agua Caliente in public schools were given without consultation with the Band, furthering misinformation and stereotypes. The tribe collaborated with the Palm Springs school district and the district’s philanthropic foundation to address this disconnect by creating and mandating an elementary-level Native American Studies curriculum. The program fosters greater community understanding by teaching the history and culture of the Agua Caliente people through their own words.

Cherokee Nation Hepatitis C Elimination Program | Cherokee Nation

Native communities face much higher rates of Hepatitis C (HCV) than the general US population, as well as some of the highest rates of HCV-induced mortality. In 2015, Cherokee Nation Health Services partnered with the Centers for Disease Control to pioneer the first HCV elimination program of its kind. They developed unique and effective screening processes that have linked patients to critical services and trained new health care providers. The Program improves health outcomes for citizens living with HCV and serves all the Nation’s citizens with robust HCV diagnosis and treatment infrastructure. 

Cherokee Nation ONE FIRE | Cherokee Nation

Facing similar epidemics of domestic violence and sexual abuse as many other tribal nations, the Cherokee Nation established ONE FIRE Victim Services, which stands for Our Nation Ending Fear, Intimidation, Rape, and Endangerment. ONE FIRE has created a streamlined, “one-stop” program, to provide wrap-around services to survivors of domestic abuse, sexual assault, and dating violence in the tribe’s 14-county jurisdiction, whether they be women or men, Native or not. Using a trauma-informed care model, ONE FIRE meets the immediate needs of those in crisis in the short-term while supporting the healing of survivors and their families and addressing the root causes of domestic violence and sexual assault in the long-term to create a safer community.

Chickasaw Nation Medical Family Therapy | Chickasaw Nation

The separation of physical health and behavioral health treatment often means that many people are not able to access the mental health care and social support they need to heal. To address  this, in 2014, the Chickasaw Nation reconfigured its health service delivery to include behavioral health consultants into every patient’s care team, regardless of the presenting issue, throughout the Nation’s health system. Patients now receive their care in a coordinated and holistic way, improving their overall quality of life.

Chickasaw Nation Productions | Chickasaw Nation

Chickasaw Nation Productions creates feature-length films that preserve and revitalize the traditional and contemporary stories of the Chickasaw Nation and its people. Along with producing positive representations, the program provides educational opportunities for Oklahoma public school students to meaningfully engage with Chickasaw history and for tribal members to participate in every aspect of media production. Through empowered storytelling, each new film and documentary serves to keep the Nation’s stories, language, and traditions alive and relevant.

D3WXbi Palil | Squaxin Island Tribe

The Squaxin Island Tribe’s Northwest Indian Treatment Center (NWITC) is a residential chemical dependency treatment facility that serves American Indians with chronic substance abuse and relapse patterns related to unresolved grief and trauma. Using culturally adapted best practices, the NWITC provides clinical, cultural, and support services to clients during a 45-day treatment program. A support team remains in contact with program alumni and helps to build additional supportive networks. The NWITC has been given the spiritual name “D3WXbi Palil,” meaning “Returning from the Dark, Deep Waters to the Light,” and it is helping people to remember, relearn, and return to their true identities.

didgwálic Wellness Center | Swinomish Indian Tribal Community

The opioid epidemic has had devastating effects on Native and non-Native populations across the country. In response to a concerning rate of overdose deaths in their community, the Swinomish Indian Tribal Senate established the didgwálic Wellness Center as a holistic wellness program that improves health and social outcomes by removing barriers to treatment. Focusing on a “whole-person” service delivery model, the Center provides comprehensive, culturally relevant, and personalized care for each patient to sustain a life of recovery and healing with their broader community.

Energy Lifeline Sector Resilience: Low-carbon Microgrids | Blue Lake Rancheria

The Blue Lake Rancheria is located in a rural, geographically isolated region of northwestern California where power outages are common and increasing in frequency due to the climate crisis. To develop energy sovereignty, the tribe’s Energy Lifeline Sector Resilience: Low-carbon Microgrids program installed two climate-smart electric microgrids, with a third in design. The microgrids have increased self-sufficiency, succeeded as economy-enabling investments, and provided tribal members with resilient power that emits less carbon. During emergencies, the tribe has operated its microgrids independently, providing reliable power to significantly improve the energy stability of the larger region.

Family Safety Program | Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians holds tribal trust lands in five different North Carolina counties. In 2015, the Tribe launched its own Family Safety Program to offer child and adult protective services and foster care services to children and families throughout the Cherokee community. The program consolidated existing tribal programs and expanded tribally-provided services using an integrated child welfare model that designates a team of professionals for each family in order to deliver wrap around services and 24/7 support. The Family Safety Program works to support the tribal community’s goal of healthy and intact families for all Cherokee children.

Hopi Veterans Services | The Hopi Tribe

To honor the sacrifices of thousands of Hopi tribal members who have served in all branches of the US armed forces, Hopi Veterans Services was established in 1990 to help Veterans with health, compensation and pension benefits, transportation to VA medical appointments, and funerary services and final honors. Serving a rural community hundreds of miles from the nearest VA facilities, the Hopi Veterans Services acts as the main point of contact for Veterans by merging partnerships on local, tribal, state, and federal levels. In addition to providing quality services for their Veterans, the program also advocates for much needed structural support and Veteran benefits locally and nationally.

Managed Aquifer Recharge site 5 | Gila River Indian Community

The Keli Akimel (Gila River) has represented the center of social, economic, cultural, and spiritual life for the Gila River Indian Community throughout their peoples’ history. Following a near century long battle for their water rights after upstream diversions cut off the flow of the Gila River, the Community secured a water settlement in 2004 and proceeded to devise ways to ensure water access and sustainable agriculture for future generations. By developing Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) sites, the Community is able to provide for the long-term viability of water resources on-reservation by storing water underground for use during surface water shortages. This ensures a sustainable safe yield of its groundwater supply to support its historic agricultural economy. 

Minnesota Tribal-State Relations Training | Intertribal

Since its inception in 2011, the Minnesota Tribal-State Relations Training program has educated key state agency staff about tribal governments, histories, cultures, and traditions so that state and Native nations can more effectively collaborate to resolve shared policy challenges and objectives. All 11 tribal nations in Minnesota collectively implement the training and share their individual stories in order to promote authentic and respectful relationships between state agencies and tribal nations. These relationships have led to greater funding for transportation and other infrastructure projects, the completion of a river restoration project, and timely consultation on a range of matters of mutual interest.

Native American Heritage Fund | Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi Tribe

The Native American Heritage Fund (NAHF) was formed in 2016 by the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi Tribe to provide grants for initiatives and programs which promote positive relationships between public and private K-12 schools, colleges/universities, and local governments. The NAHF provides resources to update educational curricula, replace Native American mascots in K-12 schools, and assist municipal governments to replace monuments, seals, and murals that depict inaccurate accounts of Native history and disparaging images with more accurate and authentic portrayals. Numerous grants awarded by the NAHF have served to improve the representation of Native American people, history, and culture throughout Michigan.

Pe Sla | Intertribal

Preserving traditional homelands and sacred sites is a challenge shared across Indian Country. The option to purchase land and place it into trust is a difficult and costly process that a tribe often cannot afford. In 2012, the eight Tribes of the Great Sioux Nation joined efforts to purchase 2,000 acres of sacred land back. Tucked away in the heart of the Black Hills, a site known to the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota Oyate as Pe Sla was successfully put into trust and back in the care of the tribes. This intertribal collaboration has led to a restoration of native buffalo, grasses, flora, and fauna as well as land preservation for traditional ceremonies and cultural programming in perpetuity. 

Sitka Tribe of Alaska Environmental Lab | Sitka Tribe of Alaska

Changing ocean conditions brought about by climate change have put the future of marine subsistence resources at risk. To address these risks, the Sitka Tribe of Alaska took the lead in forming the Southeast Alaska Tribal Oceans Research (SEATOR) group, a regional conglomerate of 16 tribes in Southeast Alaska. Supporting the SEATOR partnership, the Sitka Tribe of Alaska Environmental Research Lab provides real time testing of marine subsistence resources to ensure safe consumption and monitors of harmful algal blooms and ocean acidification. The Research Lab’s biotoxin testing has given Southeast Alaskan tribes the capacity to provide safe access for their tribal citizens to healthy shellfish populations within their traditional territories.

Swinomish Dental Therapy Implementation Initiative | Swinomish Indian Tribal Community

In order to address the oral health crisis facing their community, in 2017, the Swinomish tribal leaders exercised their tribal sovereignty and created the legal infrastructure to license and employ dental therapists in their own community. Recognized by the State of Washington, the Dental Therapy Initiative lays the foundation for the growth of oral health programs that increase access to high quality, culturally competent, primary oral health care that fit their needs, while also creating jobs for tribal members to become dental providers in their communities.

Swinomish Tax Authority | Swinomish Indian Tribal Community

After a Ninth Circuit Court ruling in 2014 declared state and local property taxes could not be imposed on permanent improvements on trust land, the Swinomish Tax Authority was created to assess and collect the Swinomish Trust Improvement Use & Occupancy Tax. This decision allowed the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community to determine both the manner in which permanent improvements on trust land would be taxed and the use of the tax revenue generated by those improvements. The program expands the exercise of the Tribe’s sovereignty and creates an additional revenue stream to help fund essential government services as well as voluntary contributions to local non-tribal entities, including the local school, fire, and library districts, thus strengthening important intergovernmental relationships.

Warm Springs Geo Visions, Inc. | Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon

Warm Springs Geo Visions, Inc., a tribally-owned enterprise of the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon, is a professional environmental compliance and services contractor for government, industry, and academic sectors throughout the Pacific Northwest. Geo Visions gives a voice to the people who live on these lands today, and to their ancestors, by establishing a new standard for environmental compliance that uses traditional environmental and cultural knowledge as essential components. As a business venture the enterprise also provides a diversified source of income for the Tribes and creates jobs for tribal citizens. Through its outreach efforts, Geo Visions has connected with several other tribes and seeks to lead this charge towards collaborative environmental management.

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Staff Updates: Presentations and Publications

PRESENTATIONS

FEMA Region 6 COVID19 Interagency Recovery Coordination Call, February 23, 2021 [Joe Kalt] The COVID-19 Pandemic: Impacts on Responses of the 574 Federally Recognized Tribal Nations

January In Tucson, University of Arizona, January 7-27, 2021 [Miriam Jorgensen] Making Change Happen (with Stephen Cornell); The Constitutions of Native Nations (with Alison Vivian); The Evidence for Native Nation Building (with Jonathan Taylor)

Panelist, January 2021 [Eric Henson] Native View of Tribal Energy Resource Agreements (Northern California Osage)

Studio Course Final Review, Harvard Graduate School of Design, December 9, 2020 [reviewers, Megan Hill and Melissa Yazzie] As of Right: First Nations Reclaim the City

International Indigenous Governance Conference, hosted by The Australian Governance Institute in partnership with Reconciliation Australia, December 1-3, 2020 [Megan Hill] Contemporary Indigenous Nation Building

Harvard Institute of Politics FORUM, November 10, 2020 [introduction, Megan Hill] Fulfilling the Promise of a Treaty, A conversation with Kimberly Teehee

NCAI Annual Convention, November 10, 2020 [Joe Kalt] Economic Recovery Starts Within: COVID-19's Wake-up Call for Indian Country

Indian Country Homeownership at the Rural Research Symposium hosted by Freddie Mac, November 9, 2020 [Miriam Jorgensen] Mortgage lending on South Dakota's Indian trust land: Findings from a survey of lenders

D.o.D. U.S. Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command, November 2020 [Eric Henson] Native American Heritage Month, Indian Education at Harvard University

Socioeconomic Inequity panel, Race and the Pandemic symposium hosted by Washington and Lee University School of Law and the Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice, October 29, 2020 [Miriam Jorgensen] Native Americans, and socioeconomic inequality

Invisible Borders at the colloquium Border Barriers: History and Impact hosted by the Arizona State Museum and Arizona Humanities, October 20, 2020 [Miriam Jorgensen] Ubiquitous and consequential: An introduction to the invisible 'borders within" PUBLICATIONS Chapter in the Arizona Town Hall background report Creating Vibrant Communities [co-author, Miriam Jorgensen] The Role of Tribes and Tribal Relations in Creating a More Vibrant Arizona

Policy Brief: Native Nation Rebuilding for Tribal Research and Data Governance [co-author, Miriam Jorgensen] Native Nation Rebuilding for Tribal Research and Data Governance

Indigenous nations in post-racial America: Rethinking social inclusion, Review of Black Political Economy [co-authors, Stephen Cornell and Miriam Jorgensen] Link to article

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As we head into winter, there’s always the question of how bad it will be. It used to be that “bad” meant a few extra storms that reached into April, but now we know the reality is much worse. Over the last ten years, weather patterns have grown increasingly difficult to predict. However, our elders remember, and they tell us with no uncertainty that our land is changing, not for the better. Milder temperatures across the country and extreme climate events have precipitated significant ice melts and a devastating fire season that consumed more than 5 million acres in California, Oregon, and Washington.

Indigenous communities are some of the most vulnerable when it comes to the immediate and long-term effects of climate change. Statistically under or unrepresented -- “something else” most recently -- in national data, Native nations are developing their own climate risk assessment plans and taking action. The Washington Post recently highlighted the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community (2014 Honoree), frontrunners in climate adaptation, and it’s a must-read. Their 2007 Climate Proclamation and subsequent 2010 Climate Adaptation Action Plan have become models not only for other tribal nations but also for non-native jurisdictions. The Swinomish have created six Indigenous Health Indicators (IHIs): cultural use, community connection, self-determination, resiliency, education (intergenerational knowledge transfer), and natural resource security. These traditional, these Swinomish markers are the basis of a world-class, scientific study led by tribal citizens on their homelands.

Across North America, more and more Indigenous communities are answering Swinomish’s call to action, and we need more to follow. The Lummi Nation’s Wetland and Habitat Mitigation Bank was a fellow 2014 Honoree. Their work to address land scarcity with innovative mitigation credits is helping to protect nearly 2,000 acres of wetland resources.

https://www.swinomish-climate.com/

https://www.lummi-nsn.gov/Website.php?PageID=66

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250 days have passed since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak a global pandemic. According to the U.S. News and World Report, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention state that “American Indian and Alaska Native people are 5.3 times more likely than white people to be hospitalized due to COVID-19, the largest disparity for any racial or ethnic group.” Without a vaccine and no signs of a slow to the spread, the coronavirus continues to disproportionately devastate tribal communities and their economies. And so, as we have since March, we turn to the helpers and the bedrock organizations who have worked tirelessly to ensure we do not lose another relative for guidance. We look for those who will see us through the pandemic. They are the ones who will keep watch over our physical health and fight for our lives. Once this coronavirus is contained, and we do believe it will be, there are other programs that will step forward to nurse back our spiritual, emotional, and psychological health. We need them both, and luckily we know where to find them.

As COVID-19 numbers spike in Alaska, every health care worker is a lifeline, and two Honoring Nations programs are helping to meet the demands. With roots that reach back to the 1960s, Health Aide Training Programs, a 2018 Honoring Nations Awardee, are a large-scale investment in professional development and job creation in isolated villages. In many instances, health aides are the sole full-time health practitioners in rural Alaska. The training program provides students with the knowledge and experience necessary to offer health services in their home villages. Once certified, health aides can bill third party insurance which keeps important health care dollars in the community. Learn more about Health Aides Training Programs, Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium here.

2016 Honoring Nations Awardee, Calricaraq: Indigenous Yup’ik Wellbeing is a wellness program that serves the 58 remote tribal communities in the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta of Southwest Alaska, currently a COVID-19 hotspot. Calricaraq’s foundational idea is that community driven and elder led practices can better help individuals and communities heal by returning ancient knowledge into medical care for Alaska Natives. Yup’ik teachings frame Calricaraq’s outreach and participants are reminded that all individuals have value with meaningful contributions to make throughout their lives. Learn more about Calricaraq: Indigenous Yup’ik Wellbeing, Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation here.

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According to an online article published last year by the National Indian Council on Aging, “American Indians and Alaska Natives serve in the Armed Forces at five times the national average and have served with distinction in every major conflict for over 200 years.” A sentiment echoed throughout many media posts from and about Native servicemen and servicewomen was a call to defend and protect their land, their homes, regardless of leadership.

This commitment to heroic service is what Honoring Nations, 2020 semi-finalist Hopi Veterans Services (HVS), seeks to honor and repay by providing quality care and advocacy through the Hopi values of “Kyavtsi” (respect); “Sumi’nangwa” (benefit all); and “Nami’nangwa” (help one another). Since 1995, HVS has been assisting Hopi and Tewa Veterans, military members, and their families to obtain Veteran health, compensation, and pension benefits. Eugene Talas, program manager, shared that over 2000+ Hopis have served in all branches of the military from World War II through the present day. HVS views their work through four related fields: time, in the form of community outreach and personal visits; distance, help to ease the burden of a rural location through reliable transportation; income, state and federal advocacy to improve and realize entitlements for Native Veterans; and logistics, such as cultural awareness training for Veterans Affairs staff. Learn more about Hopi Veterans Services here.

One year ago, PBS premiered “The Warrior Tradition”, a documentary that gives voice to some of the many untold stories from Native warriors and their families, Watch the film here.

This Veterans Day, the National Museum of the American Indian unveiled the new National Native American Veterans Memorial designed by Harvey Pratt, a veteran and citizen of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma. Virtual programming for the event can be found here.

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Ohero:kon “Under the Husk” Rites of Passage, 2015 Honoring Nations Honoree, Haudenosaunee Confederacy

Found by Bear Clan Mother Wakerakatste louise Herne, Ohero:kon offers Haudenosaunee youth a familial tended path toward self-discovery and realization. Uncles and aunties come together to help guide youth through a seven-year, rite-of-passage. The ceremonies, spoken of in creation stories, highlight the importance of cultural and community connection for any leadership development. You can learn more about some journeys here.

Akimel O’odham/Pee-Posh Youth Council, 2002 Honoring Nations Honoree, Gila River Indian Community

Recognizing that their youth possess critical insight on a full range of governing issues, tribal leaders chartered the Akimel O’odham/Pee-Posh Youth Council in 1988 to give youth a formal voice within tribal government. With the median age of the Gila River Indian Community at 22.7 years, the significance of this council’s role is too apparent. After receiving training in communication, team building, ethics, conflict resolution, and parliamentary procedures, Youth Council members present youth issues to the tribal government, oversee various community projects, and attend local, state, and national meetings. Today, the Youth Council actively engages the community through its Facebook presence here, and their 2020 Election “Get Woke And Vote” virtual quiz is as sophisticated in its reporting as any formal elections’ polling can get.

Cherokee National Youth Choir, 2003 Honoring Nations Honoree, Cherokee Nation

Performing traditional and contemporary songs in the Cherokee language earned this now 20-year old choir an Honoring Nations award in 2002. In resurrecting old family songs that served to bind as much as to heal, this award-winning program also prioritized preserving the language, which was in danger of extinction. But as we saw the tribe’s leadership invest not just in language revitalization, they’d also invite their youth to continue the work of preservation, investing in a future generation of leaders for their people. Since March, the choir continues to perform, and uses their Facebook page here to share solo performances with the world.

Leadership Institute at the Santa Fe Indian School, 2010 Honoring Nations Honoree, All Indian Pueblo Council

The programs at the Leadership Institute at the Santa Fe Indian School are meant as an intergenerational incubator for crafting culturally appropriate policy. The Summer Policy Academy, a four-week session designed to expose Pueblo students to leadership and public policy training, is one of their strongest. The intention behind the Leadership Institute’s founding in 1997 is to form leaders from within. Where the Leadership Institute thrives is in training tribal youth to engage contemporary policy challenges with considerations of history and culture.

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Tribal nations across Indian Country are indigenizing justice systems by drawing from their own traditional knowledge systems. Through the Honoring Nations award program, we’ve had the honor of learning from restorative justice efforts in Indian child welfare. For the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe, a 2014 Honoree, the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, a 2006 Honoree, and the Sitka Tribe of Alaska, a 2018 Honoree, rehabilitating the child welfare system meant creating their own programs to protect children and to strengthen families. We are fortunate to have these blueprints for guidance on child welfare best practices, the benefits of interagency and intergovernmental relationships, and uncovering capacity from within to further exercise sovereign decision-making to serve an entire nation.

These honorees’ work is supported and in conversation with the Native-guided missions of advocates like the National Indian Child Welfare Association, and the Maine Wabanaki-State Child Welfare Truth & Reconciliation Commission. Both are deeply engaged in affirming the importance of Native cultures in child welfare cases, and in forging partnerships with county, state, and congressional partners to defend the sovereign rights of Native nations as underscored in the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) of 1978.

ICWA compliance is still a challenge across the US. What these nations and organizations are accomplishing on this front, however, are lessons in themselves. What we’ve learned from each honoree program are not only effective approaches to gaining legitimacy across jurisdictions, but also in reaffirming that Native nations are leading the way in effective and sustainable programs.

To learn more about these three honorees:

Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribal Child Welfare Program

Indian Child Welfare Services, Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians

Sitka ICWA Partnership, Sitka Tribe of Alaska

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It's Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and we'd like to highlight the work of some incredible Honoring Nations programs. Together, they give the 20,000-foot view of family and wellness services helping to address domestic violence in Indian Country. These are blueprints ready to use; every Nation could have a version of Project Falvmmichi operating within the year. Seriously, please send us news of your success stories when you do!

Choctaw Nation, Project Falvmmichi, 2008 Honoree

Project Falvmmichi (PF) aims to reclaim Choctaw Nation youth from the pervasive cycle of domestic violence. The program was conceptualized by a 16-year-old Choctaw citizen who believed high school mentors could partner with elementary children and change the narrative on physical violence in the classroom, at home, and within their community. PF has been seamlessly integrated into school-based classrooms and curriculum with overwhelming success. This program is easily transferable and affordable and lends itself well to zoom or in-person class format. Learn more about Project Falvmmichi here.

Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, Family Violence and Victim's Services, 2003 Honoree

The strength of the Family Violence and Victim's Services Program (FVVS) is twofold. First, it has established comprehensive coordination of interagency services that readily offer broad victim support. Second, the Mississippi Choctaw have drafted and expanded tribal codes and fully enforced laws that address and abate domestic violence. This program reaffirms the importance of effective governance based on clear rules of law.

Yurok Nation, Wellness Program, 2018 Honoree

There are many models of restorative justice and wellness courts across Indian Country, and each has important lessons to share. The Yurok Nation Wellness Program is multifaceted and includes a domestic violence component worthy of exploration and replication. Hey-wech-ek' Program is asset-based and focuses on three areas to foster healing from intergenerational trauma: talking to an Elder, building cultural competence, and developing a family tree. This approach works to help root an individual to the community, their family, and, most importantly, themselves. Many participants of Hey-wech-ek,' available to both native and non-native individuals, chose to continue to stay enrolled in the program well after completing the state mandate of 52 weeks. Learn more about Yurok Nation Wellness Program here. A documentary, Tribal Justice, that features the work of Yurok and Quechan justice systems can be streamed here.  

Cherokee Nation, ONE FIRE, 2020 Semi-Finalist

ONE FIRE stands for Our Nation Ending Fear, Intimidation, Rape, and Endangerment. It seeks to meet victims' immediate needs while also working to provide tools for long-term healing and the complete eradication of violence in the Cherokee Nation. Learn more about ONE FIRE here.

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It’s harvest season for the Tohono O’odham Nation (TON) and the lifeways of the Sonoran Desert. The O’odham Je:wed or O’odham land, is providing what the community needs. Last week we shared a video produced by Google, featuring the Native American Advancement Foundation (NAAF) whose work in partnership with the GuVo District of TON can be seen as part of that bounty. We were so moved by the faces and stories that bloomed throughout the video that we wanted to learn more.

In 2011, a group of GuVo District families met to discuss ways to support youth education and community wellness. They understood that any program’s successes had to be rooted in Tohono O’odham himdag (lifeway principles) and i:mig (identity, kinship, and geography). Native American Advancement Foundation was born from the vision of these planning sessions and the dedication of these people. The mission of NAAF is intentionally inward-facing. Each project is sculpted from Tohono O’odham tradition and consults with elders, GuVo District Council, and citizens for guidance. The After School and Summer Adventure programs are NAAF’s longest-running programs, and each proudly boasts a 100% graduation rate, which corresponds to graduation in elementary, middle, and high schools. Some of their additional programs include General Education development and Grad Solutions, Healthy People Coalition, Tohono O’odham language learning, and The Store, a non-profit entity for food and household items. Many, if not all, of these projects incorporate multi-generational learning where academic and cultural education walk hand-in-hand like language arts and storytelling or weaving, math and O’odham brick making, and earth science and traditional agriculture. Everything is connected, and NAAF seeks to bring those connections to life.

Since COVID-19, NAAF expanded programming to ensure basic needs are being met. GuVo District experiences food insecurity due to a remote rural geography -- 75 miles from the nearest grocery. NAAF works with District Council to provide access to provisions and daily home meals for children with enrichment materials in Tohono O’odham culture and wellness. With each challenge, there is always an opportunity for growth, and NAAF is breaking new ground. Since school closures, NAAF provides families with educational resources from laptops to home-based learning packets and a socially distanced internet cafe. The increase in academic services again brought the community together, and NAAF and GuVo families developed a plan to provide a Remote Learning Center to support K-12th grade education. Ruth’s Garden is an integral part of this plan. Named for a beloved GuVo elder and education advocate, this multi-generational learning site will create a space to teach traditional growing and irrigation methods while restoring the original foods. During a time of such loss and uncertainty, children, teens, and elders are working together to tend the soil, bring forward life from ancient seeds, and ensure the future for generations to come.

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In case you missed this lively discussion moderated by the Director of the Harvard Project, Professor Joe Kalt, and featuring a diverse panel of Congressional and Tribal leaders, please click above to watch.

Several participants submitted questions to the panel, and below are responses from panelist President Shelley Buck from Prairie Island Indian Community.

QUESTION #1:  For communities that were unprepared for online-work and online-learning -- What have you done to help people get online and stay online? Are you using CARES Act funds to build more infrastructure? What about more immediate solutions? Has the FCC been helpful, and how could they be better?

RESPONSE:  A few years ago we worked with HBC (a company in MN) to get fiber optics put in on the reservation. This has provided those living on the reservation to have high speed internet for a few years.

QUESTION #2:  Slightly off topic - How did the July Supreme Court ruling regarding Native Land in the Creek Reservation in Oklahoma impact your reservations, communities and land governance?

RESPONSE:  The benefits of the McGirt decision should resound for years to come in jurisdictions all over the nation, however, it is unnerving that it was a 5-4 decision to simply apply pre-existing Supreme Court precedence. Nonetheless, the decision makes clear that when it comes to reservations and tribal lands, Courts must focus on what Congress actually did or did not do, instead of non-textual, subsequent factors.

In our case, the federal government has for many decades flooded the Prairie Island Reservation, endangering our people, our homes, and our tribal businesses -- all without the consent of Congress and without compensation to our Tribe. The McGirt decision underscores that where Congress has not explicitly acted to disestablish a reservation (or in our case, alienate tribal property rights subsequent illegal governmental acts aren’t sufficient to do so. In the words of Justice Gorsuch, “Unlawful acts, performed long enough and with sufficient vigor, are never enough to amend the law.”

QUESTION #3:  Good afternoon, Rep. Davis and all the distinguished panelists. My name is Quentin, and I’m an intern on the Senate side. I want to know if any of you could speak to what specifically tribal leaders are doing well (from the discussion so far - it seems like numerous native peoples and their governments are doing a number of things well) and what specifically the federal government and state and local governments can learn from the successes of tribal governments when it comes to covid-19 management and resource usage.

RESPONSE:  As we have seen around Indian Country, many tribes have taken an aggressive approach to protecting against COVID-19 entering into communities from the outside (closing boundaries, mandating masks, etc.). Often aggressive measures are necessary because how woefully underfunded our healthcare systems are. Preventing an outbreak is critical. We think that those states taking a less restrictive approach should learn from the tribes that have had success with a very comprehensive COVID-19 government response.

QUESTION #4:  Thank you sincerely to each leader speaking on concerns centering public health and economic challenges and disparities. I’m wondering about education-specific concerns. How are tribal nations responding to education concerns for young people and their support systems? (pre K-12, TCUs, community educators, etc.)

RESPONSE:  Here are Prairie Island we are VERY proud to have a great support system for our kids in their education. We invest much of our resources to this cause as we believe it is a solid foundation to setting up our children for success. We have experienced 90-98% High School Graduation rate year over year and roughly 65-70% go on to college and beyond. During this time we have increased tutor support, and are attempting to make sure that all children have what they need for remote learning.

QUESTION #5:  Please help me understand the obstacles to spending the funds in the required time limit.

RESPONSE:  The first issue with spending the funds by the current deadline of December 30th, 2020 is the face that the Treasury department really fumbled the implementation of getting the funds out to Tribes. Tribes waited many weeks after the deadline for Treasury to get the funds out to Tribes, so right out the gate the Tribes were already weeks behind state and local governments that received CRF money. Furthermore, the struggle with finding suitable “allowed uses” for the Coronavirus Relief Fund monies is the lack of clarity and transparency from the Treasury department in their ever-changing guidance documents. Tribal leaders are running government operations in addition to dealing with the pandemic, and given the failure of trust responsibilities for years, there are many needs to address that cannot all be tackled within an abbreviated timeframe. As we see, COVID-19 isn’t anticipated to have a deadline of December 31, 2020. So why should our ability to use funds to combat its effects?

QUESTION #6:  Today, many of the discussions regarding our current public health and economic situation revolve around what should be done now (e.g. increased funding for tribal communities, more flexibility in the use of funds, etc.). Understandably, considerations for what happens post-COVID-19 are not being emphasized as much right now. What are some ways in which COVID-19 will have a lasting impact on politics within tribes, relationships between tribes and state governments, economic structures in tribes, and the overall culture both within and towards tribes?

RESPONSE:  We will continue to feel the effects of COVID-19 for the years to come. Thankfully in Minnesota the COVID pandemic has really brought Tribes and the state closer in many aspects. We hold regular calls/zoom meetings with state officials and agencies, multiple times a week. They understand the disproportionate affect that this virus is having on our Tribal Communities and are working hard to understand and respond to our needs.

QUESTION #7:  On a personal level what drives the tribe leaders, given the unacceptable and frustrating lack of direction and support by the Federal government? I’m not sure I would have the fortitude to do this work.

RESPONSE:  What drives me is honoring my ancestors. Our ancestors suffered and sacrificed so much so we could have what we have today. I am also driven to make sure our future generations are taken care of. It is not always easy work, but if you continue to use the tools that are given to you by your culture, it helps to keep you grounded.

QUESTION #8:  Besides voting, what specifically can we as citizens do to support the indigenous tribes during COVID and beyond?

RESPONSE:  Moving forward, Tribes need to continue to network with each other, build solid relationships and come together to fight for our common goals. We all need to realize that we are together in this. If you can help another Tribe in anyway, you should do so. Tribal citizens should remain actively engaged in their tribal governments, and come together as communities to reach common goals. Non-tribal citizens should continue to engage with local tribal communities, and educate themselves on the issues pressing and oppressing the tribal nations. Encourage local, state and federal leaders, and business leaders as well to partner with tribal nations to problem solve.

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Seven months into the pandemic, and we understand more than ever the interconnectedness of the world around us and how important, fragile even, our collective health can be. In March, homes ceased to be afterthoughts as they quickly became offices, schools and playgrounds, gyms and restaurants, and places where e v e r y s i n g l e b r e a t h was lived. People began to take stock of what they have and what they needed. Long forgotten corners were cleaned to make room for a makeshift desk and obstacle courses for the kids. People fixed what was broken and began tending to what still worked. Now, as everyone begins to venture out more, they have an eye to look after their homelands, too. We want to help.

Since 1987 and 1998 respectively, the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development and Honoring Nations have created space for tribal nations to share their housekeeping success stories. Last week we revisited 2002 Honoring Nation award winner, the Iroquois Nationals. Today, we want to share with you Blue Lake Rancheria, 2020 Honoring Nation semifinalist, who addresses climate change while supporting their community’s needs and building energy independence; they think of it as creating an island in the woods, and we love it.

Blue Lake Rancheria is located in rural Northern California, where wildfires, earthquakes, and climate change can regularly disrupt electricity. In 2009, the Tribe created a Strategic Energy Plan to achieve zero net greenhouse has emissions by 2030. They partnered with Siemens to build microgrid infrastructures that provide reliable and resilient energy and reduces its carbon footprint. During regional power outages, the Tribe now disconnects fromPacific Gas an dElectric system and operates in island mode, where they use tribal generation to provide electricity to their reservation, which serves as an American Red Cross shelter and an alternative emergency command center. When you can, take a look at Blue Lake Rancheria and see the amazing work they are doing. There are resources to be shared and learned.

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It has been called the Creator’s Game or the Little Brother of War, and it has been around for centuries. Lacrosse, as it is popularly known, is a field game of finesse and endurance. Ask citizens of a Haudenosaunee or Ojibwe nation their thoughts on lacrosse, however, they will tell you its place and importance run much deeper; it is a sacred game that carries medicine and transformation.

The Iroquois Nationals (IN) Lacrosse Team are an Honoring Nations 2002 awardee, and like the game, their role and importance in nation building are bigger than their success on the field. It would be enough to acknowledge that they are the only Native national sports team in international competition. However, to leave it at that would dismiss their tireless work to raise awareness of and support for tribal sovereignty. The IN pushed the International Lacrosse Federation to recognize their legitimate bid for membership as a sovereign nation in 1987; sovereignty that has been reinforced by international team travel with Haudenosaunee issued passports.

Since 2002, the Iroquois Nationals have continued their fight. In the Fall of 2019, the team learned they were not one of eight teams selected to compete in the World Games despite a third-place finish in the qualifying games. According to an article published by the CBC, the IN were deemed ineligible by the International World Games Association (IWGA) as they did not “meet criteria as a nation-state to be included in the Olympics,” a decision that sparked confusion and public outcry. Aidan Fearn, a lacrosse player from Glooscap First Nation in Nova Scotia and a player on the IN’s Under-20 team, started a petition to boycott the 2022 World Games that garnered over 50,000 signatures. Conversations between the Iroquois Nationals, World Lacrosse, and World Games reversed the ineligibility decision but did not create an actual place for the IN to compete until Ireland’s National Lacrosse team voluntarily gave up their spot.

The generosity of Ireland Lacrosse will not be forgotten. It’s easy to believe that when the Iroquois Nationals take the field for the World Games they’ll be playing for both nations. The Iroquois Nationals’ place in the lineup, however, should have been allowed by their inherent sovereignty and team’s performance, rather than by the selfless sacrifice of another qualifying team.

References:

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-monday-edition-1.5664460/iroquois-nationals-barred-from-world-games-say-their-people-gave-gift-of-lacrosse-to-the-world-1.5664618

https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/07/world/ireland-iroquois-lacrosse-spt-trnd/index.html?fbclid=IwAR1RWzwrhfRk5ISVncNXrsl3GPd9_wNKbMywNvdWtKI-PXOTEYb_uS2GDPE

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Today, we want to focus on elders, elders who are gifted orators and faithkeepers, elders who safeguard our language and traditions, elders who make us belly laugh, who make us better, and elders who still need us. During the pandemic, many of us have turned to social media for community. We’ve connected on Social Distance Powwow, watched Jamie Okuma live stream her amazing quillwork, enjoyed Eileen Briggs’ pretend cooking show, and listened to the old-timers tell their stories.

We’d like to highlight Yellow Bird Life Ways -- you may remember them from our Women’s Response to COVID-19 post -- Traditional Storytelling with Oren Lyons, Chief and Faithkeeper, Onondaga Indian Nation and Chairman of the Honoring Nations Board of Governors (Emeritus) -- recorded on April 29, 2020, when many of us thought the pandemic would run its course over the summer. While listening to Chief Lyons speak about pandemics that have come before and the survival of our ancestors that audible becomes less about how to endure and more about how to thrive. He tells us that “It’s time to plant,” and it is. He instructs us to watch for the signs and to sing our songs, and so we should. He reminds us to find the bringers of peace for they will help to lead us; sometimes, even, those leaders will be a six-year old child who unexpectedly shows up at your door. When you can, sit down with Chief Lyons and watch the video.

There are a lot of elder resources available online and through your local communities and we want to take a moment to showcase a few. The first is a pen-pal program for elders established by the Bois Forte Band of Chippewas in Minnesota who used a flyer to help recruit pen pals. This is a wonderful way to directly impact elders living in care facilities in your local area. If you find yourself suddenly a homeschool teacher, have your kids work on their writing and storytelling skills through the dying art that is letter writing.

At an administrative level, the Chickasaw Nation in Oklahoma has launched a series of virtual resources for their tribal citizens. The ability to get quality health care to vulnerable populations has been critical and lifesaving. 

Listen. Our elders have so much to say and their voices are loud and clear. Wikwemikong First Nation Nursing Home in Ontario, Canada, send important messages to loved-ones.

Elder abuse, it’s difficult to discuss but so essential to acknowledge. The University of Southern California Center on Elder Mistreatment offers a lot of resources on elder advocacy and how COVID-19 is putting seniors at greater risk.

The Office for American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian Programs, Older Americans Act offer a wealth of information and programming on their Facebook page and on their website. It’s here where we found Yellow Bird Lifeway’s virtual visit with Chief Oren Lyons.

Tribal Elder Resources from the National Indigenous Elder Justice Initiative:

https://www.nieji.org/covid-19

https://www.nieji.org/tribal-elder-protection-team

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Honoring Nations 2020 Semifinalists

Agua Caliente People Curriculum -- Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians

The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians have lived in, what is now known as, Palm Springs since time immemorial. However, the only public school lessons about the Agua Caliente were developed without input from the tribe, creating misinformation and stereotypes. To address this, the Agua Caliente partnered with the Palm Springs school district and the district’s philanthropic foundation to build a curriculum that reflects both the history and contemporary realities of the Band. Meeting the state of California’s educational standards and with the approval of the tribe, this elementary-level curriculum fosters greater community understanding by teaching the history and culture of the Agua Caliente people through their own words.  

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Cherokee Nation Hepatitis C Elimination Program -- Cherokee Nation

Native communities face much higher rates of Hepatitis C (HCV) than the general US population, as well as some of the highest rates of HCV-induced mortality. In 2015, Cherokee Nation Health Services partnered with the Centers for Disease Control to pioneer the first HCV elimination program of its kind. By developing unique and effective screening processes, linking patients to care, the Cherokee Nation Hepatitis C Elimination Program improves health outcomes for citizens living with HCV. The program works with tribes and communities across the country to design their own HCV elimination programs, strengthening public health systems and creating a future where communities and cultures can thrive.

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Cherokee Nation ONE FIRE -- Cherokee Nation

The Cherokee Nation established ONE FIRE Victim Services to address domestic and sexual violence in their community. ONE FIRE (Our Nation Ending Fear, Intimidation, Rape and Endangerment) functions with a streamlined, “one-stop” strategy to provide wraparound services to survivors of domestic abuse, sexual assault, and dating violence in the tribe’s 14-county jurisdiction, whether they be women or men, Native or not. Using a trauma-informed care model, ONE FIRE meets the immediate needs of those in crisis in the short-term while supporting the healing of survivors and their families and addressing the root causes of domestic violence and sexual assault in the long-term to create a safer community.

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Chickasaw Nation Medical Family Therapy -- Chickasaw Nation

The separation of physical health and behavioral health treatment is commonplace in the western health system. For Chickasaw Nation citizens, receiving care in this type of system meant many did not access the mental health care and social support they needed. In 2014, the Nation reconfigured its health service delivery to include behavioral health consultants called medical family therapists into every patient’s care team. Medical family therapy, which ranges from child welfare programs to substance abuse treatment, integrates behavioral health work into all medical visits throughout the Nation’s health care system so patients receive their care in a coordinated and holistic way, improving their overall quality of life.

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Chickasaw Nation Productions -- Chickasaw Nation

Carrying on a longstanding tradition of storytelling while also challenging the misrepresentation of Native peoples by outside media sources, Chickasaw Nation Productions produces feature-length films that preserve and share traditional and contemporary stories of the Chickasaw Nation and its people. Along with reinforcing positive representations, the program provides educational opportunities for Oklahoma public school students to meaningfully engage with Chickasaw history. It also creates avenues for tribal members to participate in every aspect of media production. Through empowered storytelling brought to life, each new film and documentary serves to keep the Nation’s stories, language, and traditions alive and relevant.

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D3WXbi Palil -- Squaxin Island Tribe

The Squaxin Island Tribe’s Northwest Indian Treatment Center is a residential chemical dependency treatment facility that serves American Indians with chronic substance abuse and relapse patterns related to unresolved grief and complex trauma. Given the spiritual name “D3WXbi Palil,” meaning “Returning from the Dark, Deep Waters to the Light,” the Center’s programs focus on supporting Native people with chemical dependency and chronic relapse issues to remember, relearn, and return to their true identities—who they were born to be. Using culturally adapted practices, D3WXbi Palil provides clinical, cultural, and support services to clients during a 45-day treatment program, intensive recovery support, and recovery coach programming to build supportive networks.

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didgwálic Wellness Center -- Swinomish Indian Tribal Community

The opioid epidemic has had devastating effects on Native and non-Native populations across the country. In response to a concerning rate of overdose deaths in their community in recent years, the Swinomish Indian Tribal Senate established the didgwálic Wellness Center. The Center is a holistic wellness program that improves health and social outcomes by removing barriers to treatment. Focusing on a whole-person service delivery model, didgwálic provides comprehensive, culturally relevant, and personalized care for each patient to sustain a life of recovery and healing with their broader community.

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Energy Lifeline Sector Resilience: Low-carbon Microgrids -- Blue Lake Rancheria

The Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe is located in a rural, geographically isolated region of northwestern California where power outages and related social and economic disruptions are common and increasing in frequency. To develop energy sovereignty, the tribe’s Energy Lifeline Sector Resilience: Low-carbon Microgrids program includes two climate-smart electric microgrids, with a third in design. These microgrids have increased self-sufficiency, succeeding as economy-enabling investments and serving tribal members with lower-carbon power. During emergencies, the tribe has operated its microgrids independently, providing reliable power to significantly improve the stability of the larger region.

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Family Safety Program -- Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians

In 2015, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians launched the Family Safety Program to offer child and adult protective services and foster care services to Cherokee children and families across five distinct counties in North Carolina. Addressing a disproportionate percentage of Cherokee citizens in the system, the program consolidates existing tribal programs and expands services using an integrated child welfare model that designates a team of professionals for each family in order to provide wrap around services and 24/7 support. The Family Safety Program works to support the tribal community’s goal of healthy and intact families for all Cherokee children.

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Hopi Veterans Services -- The Hopi Tribe

To honor the sacrifices of thousands of Hopi tribal members who have served in all branches of the US armed forces, Hopi Veterans Services was established in 1990 to assist Hopi Veterans obtain health, compensation, and pension benefits. Serving a rural community hundreds of miles from the nearest VA facilities, the Hopi Veterans Services acts as the main point of contact for veterans by merging partnerships on local, tribal, state, and federal levels. In addition to providing quality services for their veterans, many of whom are elderly, low income, and have health issues, including mental health issues like PTSD, the program also advocates for much needed structural support and benefits locally and nationally.

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Managed Aquifer Recharge site 5 -- Gila River Indian Community

The Keli Akimel (Gila River) is at the center of social, economic, cultural, and spiritual life for the Gila River Indian Community. Following a near century long battle for their water rights after upstream diversions cut off the flow of the river, the Community secured a water settlement in 2004 and sought ways to ensure water access and sustainable agricultural development for future generations. By developing Managed Aquifer Recharge site 5, the tribe is able to provide long-term viability of water resources on-reservation by storing water underground for use during surface water shortages. The site is also an important area for cultural sharing through the restoration of traditional plants along the river, thus strengthening the Community’s cultural knowledge along with its political and economic sovereignty.

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Minnesota Tribal-State Relations Training – Intertribal

Since its inception in 2011, the Minnesota Tribal-State Relations Training program has served to educate key state agency staff about American Indian tribal governments, histories, cultures, and traditions so that state and tribal governments can more effectively collaborate to resolve shared policy challenges and objectives. All 11 tribal nations in Minnesota collectively implement the training and share their individual stories in order to promote authentic and respectful relationships between state agencies and tribal nations. These relationships have led to greater funding for transportation and other infrastructure projects, the completion of a river restoration project, and timely consultation on a range of matters of mutual interest between Minnesota’s tribal nations and state government.

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Native American Heritage Fund -- Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi Tribe

The Native American Heritage Fund was formed in 2016 to provide grants for initiatives that promote positive relationships between Michigan’s tribal nations and K-12 schools, colleges/universities, and local governments. The Heritage Fund provides support and financial resources to update educational curricula, eliminate and replace Native American mascots and imagery, and assist municipal governments to replace monuments, seals, murals that have inaccurate accounts of history and disparaging images of Native people. Numerous grants awarded in 2018 and 2019 have served to improve the representation of Native American people, history, and culture throughout the state.

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Pe Sla – Intertribal

Preserving traditional homelands and sacred sites is an intricate challenge shared by tribal nations across Indian Country. Purchasing land and placing it into trust is a difficult and costly process, however, when Pe Sla, a sacred site in the heart of the Black Hills, an area central to the traditional homeland of the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota Oyate, was put up for sale in 2012, the eight tribes of the Great Sioux Nation came together to protect this sacred area. These tribes successfully placed more than 2,000 acres of land into trust. This intertribal collaboration is leading a restoration effort of buffalo, grasses, flora, and fauna on the site and is preserving the area for traditional ceremonies and cultural programming for current and future generations.

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Sitka Tribe of Alaska Environmental Lab -- Sitka Tribe of Alaska

The Sitka Tribe of Alaska Environmental Research Lab is a tribally owned environmental lab established to provide real time testing of marine subsistence resources, like fish and shellfish, to ensure their safe consumption, facilitate the monitoring for harmful algal blooms, conduct continuous ocean acidification monitoring, and provide science educational opportunities for tribal youth. The lab’s biotoxin testing has given southeast Alaskan tribes the capacity to provide safe access for their tribal citizens to healthy and well managed shellfish populations within their traditional territories.

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Dental Therapy Implementation Initiative -- Swinomish Indian Tribal Community

In order to address the oral health crisis facing their nation, the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community expanded their dental team in 2015 with a licensed dental therapist. Swinomish tribal leaders continued to exercise their sovereignty, creating the legal infrastructure to license and employ dental therapists in their own community–opening the doors to what would become Washington State legislation in 2017. The Swinomish Dental Therapy project lays the foundation for the growth of oral health programs across Indian Country that increase access to high quality, culturally competent, primary oral health care. In addition, the program creates jobs for tribal members who train to become dental providers and enables communities to tailor their oral health programs to fit their needs.

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Swinomish Tax Authority -- Swinomish Indian Tribal Community

The Swinomish Tax Authority was created to assess and collect a Trust Improvement Use & Occupancy Tax on their tribal lands.  This tax allows the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community to determine both the manner in which permanent improvements on trust land can be taxed and the use of the tax revenue generated by those improvements. Expanding the tribe’s sovereignty, the tax creates an additional revenue stream to help fund essential government services and funds voluntary tribal contributions to local non-tribal entities, including the local school and fire station, enhancing the ability of those entities to provide valuable services to on- and off-reservation residents and strengthen important intergovernmental relationships.

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Warm Springs Geo Visions, Inc -- Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon

Warm Springs Geo Visions, Inc., a tribally-owned enterprise of the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation, is an environmental compliance and services contractor for government, industry, and academic sectors throughout the Pacific Northwest. Through its varied projects and clients, Geo Visions provides tools to the people who live on these lands by establishing a new standard for environmental compliance that includes traditional environmental and cultural knowledge as essential components. The enterprise also provides a diversified source of income for the Tribes and creates jobs for tribal citizens.

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HPAIED work in Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia

In November 2019 and again in February 2020, HPAIED research director Miriam Jorgensen was on the other side of the Pacific to discuss work of the Harvard Project and Native Nations Institute and to engage with Indigenous communities in nation building work.

From November 10-15, 2019, Miriam Jorgensen (along with HPAEID director Megan Hill, co-founder Stephen Cornell, and Honoring Nations Board of Governors member Karen Diver) participated in the third “Common Roots, Common Futures” symposium, which draws together Indigenous academics, policymakers, activists and allies from CANZUS nations (Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States) engaged in Indigenous nation rebuilding. Earlier meetings had been held in Arizona (USA) and Queensland (Australia); this meeting spanned the communities of Auckland, Hamilton, Ngaruawahia, and Rotorua on the North Island of Aotearoa New Zealand. In her presentation at the symposium (pdf attached), Miriam Jorgensen shared the progress that tribes have made in exercising sovereignty over dispute resolution in their communities and some current challenges they face. Said Jorgensen, “One of the most difficult aspects of making a presentation like this is explaining that US-based tribes have their own courts and exercise broad civil and criminal jurisdictional authority. While tribes want more jurisdiction, and more exclusive jurisdiction, and have a desire to increasingly Indigenize the practices, they at least have recognized authority over a wide range of disputes. In Canada, Aotearoa and Australia, ‘dispute resolution’ often refers to a narrower range of activities because settler-colonial governments continue to monopolize many areas of jurisdiction and many law enforcement and justice functions.”

In mid-February 2020, Jorgensen spent several days in Townsville, Queensland, working with members of the Gugu Badhun Nation (People of the Valley of Lagoons – see the attached photos of their homelands). Jorgensen’s work, made possible through an Australian Research Council Discovery Project at the University of Technology Sydney, is to provide information and guidance, as requested by the Gugu Badhun, in their nation building journey. In Australia, Indigenous nations lack formal recognition, so this applied research project considers how self-identified Indigenous nations can reform themselves as political collectives with governing responsibilities even when the settler-state refuses to “see” them as a polities.