WHAT WE DO

Research Projects

Ongoing Research

Socio-economic Changes in Indian Country
Some intriguing findings are beginning to emerge from NNI’s research project examining changes in socioeconomic conditions on American Indian reservations between the 1990 and 2000 censuses. The most recent such finding has to do with where change is occurring in reservation employment. Employment has risen on American Indian reservations, taken in the aggregate, since 1990—one of the numerous positive effects of tribal self-determination. But in both gaming and non-gaming tribes, the change in the percentage of females working was greater than the change in the percentage of males. A recent report by NNI researchers speculates that, in gaming tribes, this may be attributable to the dominance of women in service industry jobs. It is more difficult to speculate about the reasons for the pattern in non-gaming tribes. Furthermore, there is evidence that, while the overall rise in employment is substantial, it is concentrated among women: on average, the percentage of Native men living on reservations who were employed actually fell between 1990 and 2000. NNI researchers are continuing their work to try to understand these patterns.

Primer on Issues Facing Border Tribes
Within the United States more than 40 Indigenous nations have traditional lands that span contemporary international borders with either Mexico or Canada. In most cases, this means these nations’ populations are to some extent split, with people living on both sides of an international boundary. These nations face distinctive issues resulting from their proximity to international borders, including legally and physically divided populations, constrained access to cultural resources that lie across such boundaries, law enforcement and security concerns, environmental impacts, particularly of cross-border movement, public health issues, and the challenges of dealing with central governments that often fail to understand the concerns of border tribes. NNI is assembling a primer on issues facing border tribes, including information about tribal responses to the problems and resources available to address them.

Supporting Asset-Building Programs and Policies in Indian Country
Economic research suggests that opportunities and incentives for wealth building have improved the circumstances of individuals and families in the middle and upper income brackets. Such policies have rarely been targeted at low income individuals and families; instead, income transfer programs with negative incentives for wealth building have been the main components of “poor support.” Today, however, programs ranging from the Earned Income Tax Credit to individual development accounts (IDAs, also known as matched savings accounts), supported by financial education, credit counseling, and home buyer education programs, are attempting to extend the benefits of wealth building to low-income individuals and families. Significantly, there is great interest in such programs in Indian Country. The challenge is to design programs that work in this environment, which may have different cultural and policy constraints than are present in the mainstream. NNI has been engaged to evaluate the effectiveness of a curriculum designed by First Nations Development Institute, Oweesta, and the Corporation for Enterprise Development that trains Native leaders and program directors in how to implement matched saving account programs in their communities. NNI’s evaluation research ultimately will lead to the design of better curricular resources and improved opportunities for wealth building in Native communities.

Study of Consultative Process for Bureau of Land Management
NNI, in partnership with the U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution, has undertaken a project for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to reach out to tribes to explore appropriate early involvement strategies that might foster opportunities for communication between the BLM and tribes. The aim of the project is to develop an informal consultation framework, within BLM’s renewable and non-renewable resources program decision-making processes, that relies on early involvement with tribes. The assistance includes designing, developing, drafting, and completing a BLM national policy and strategies guide. The guide will serve as a resource to BLM’s managers and staff nationwide, to Native nations, and to the general public. During the coming year, the NNI researchers will vet a draft guide with tribes and submit a final version to BLM in the summer of 2007.

Research-based Policy Advocacy in Alaska
NNI researchers, in partnership with the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development, have continued to engage in research-based work with Native nations in Alaska. This work began with Stephen Cornell and Joseph P. Kalt’s paper, “Alaska Native Self-Government and Service Delivery: What Works?” and continues with a new project we have called, “‘It’s Hard Work, But It’s Our Work’: Stories of Successful Self-Government & Service Delivery by Alaska Natives.” As reported previously, NNI and Harvard Project representatives have attended meetings in Alaska last year that centered on the proposed policy of greater centralization of service delivery to Alaska tribes.  The final product of this study, due out in spring 2005, will contain both a compendium of stories of successful service delivery by various entities (including single tribes, tribally organized sub-regional consortia, and regional nonprofit organizations) and an analytic summary of the reasons for success.

New Zealand Fisheries Research
NNI is currently participating in a major research project underway at the University of Auckland that examines determinants of innovation and growth in New Zealand’s seafood industry. Under the supervision of Manley Begay and Ian Record, NNI is researching innovations among tribal fisheries in the United States and First Nations’ fisheries in Canada with an eye towards their potential implications for further seafood sector innovation and growth by the Mâori, who are major stakeholders in New Zealand’s seafood industry.

Resource Co-management in Indian Country
Using a database initiated at the Native Nations Institute’s 2001 conference, “Building Native Nations: Environment, Natural Resources, and Governance,” this research analyzes the various intergovernmental co-management agreements that tribes in North America have entered into to improve resource stewardship. A paper underway on this topic sorts agreements by the extent of tribal and not-tribal power, summarizes its categorical findings, and makes recommendations to tribes seeking to enter or improve such agreements. A preliminary presentation of the research is available.

Access to Health Care
NNI researchers were awarded a $19,000 planning grant from the Nathan  Cummings Foundation to undertake a preliminary analysis of tribal initiatives and their impact on American Indians’ and Alaska Natives’ access to health care and to develop a proposal for a more extensive research project.

Strengthening Tribal Governance Capacity
NNI was awarded $50,000 to continue its partnership with the National Congress of American Indians Policy Research Center in its project entitled ‘‘Taking Action to Strengthen Tribal Government.’’ The project, which involves listening sessions across Indian Country, is generating specific, creative, and fundable ideas for improving and expanding Native nations’ governance capacities.

Completed Research

Comprehensive Indian Resources for Community and Law Enforcement
NNI concluded a 30-month outcomes evaluation of the Comprehensive Indian Resources for Community and Law Enforcement (CIRCLE) Program, funded by the U.S. Department of Justice. CIRCLE is a demonstration project designed to explore the benefits of more integrated federal funding for tribal justice programs and more comprehensive and strategic program planning at the tribal level. The research report offers a new paradigm for conducting evaluation research on Indigenous criminal justice systems, suggests alternative funding procedures to support comprehensive criminal justice programs in Indian Country, and recommends an increased connection between Indigenous justice system development and nation building. NNI’s partners in this effort included Oglala Lakota College, Chief Dull Knife Memorial College, and the Zuni Community Development and Advocacy Center.

Leadership Development and Philanthropy for Native Arts/Culture
Building on its leadership training expertise, as well as the 2005 publications Large Foundations’ Giving to Native America (produced in collaboration with the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development) and Native Cultural Arts Organizations: Who They Are and What They Need (for Atlatl, Inc.), NNI was engaged by the Ford Foundation to provide research and consulting on the leadership development and philanthropic needs of the Native arts and culture sector. NNI’s work supports a broader understanding of investments in Native arts and culture—specifically, that such investments not only serve to differentiate Native people and nations from the dominant society, but that they also enhance a sense of self and of belonging among tribal citizens, which in turn reinforce community cohesion and Native nation survival. NNI is providing the Ford Foundation, the philanthropic sector, and the Native arts and culture field with vital information about the knowledge and support the field and its leaders need to effectively fulfill this broad mission.

Devolution from the Ground Up:  Movements for Local Empowerment in Three Navajo Communities
NNI is continuing to support doctoral research by Michelle Hale, a Navajo Nation citizen, Ph.D. candidate in American Indian Studies at the University of Arizona, and NNI research associate.  Michelle’s research examines strategies being used by local Navajo Nation communities to strengthen local autonomy and support regional economic development.  Her work is part of NNI’s effort to better understand how large Indian nations with numerous component communities (such as Navajo, Hopi, Tohono O’odham, the Oglala Sioux Tribe, and others) can build more effective governance structures.

Policy Analysis Case Studies
Policy Analysis and Research Publications