Strengthening Financial Resources in Native American Communities
Updated: November 8, 2023
Quality Verified
Updated: November 8, 2023
Quality Verified
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Historically, Native communities defined currencies by their food, relationships, nature and tools to sustain a living. Over time, Native and Indigenous populations gave way to the use of paper money. These new social standards pushed them to adopt different ways to sustain their living, often, outside their reservations and communities, which may be critical in building wealth.
Many studies and reports point to poor choices, failure to conform to government policies and lack of knowledge on managing funds as reasons Native communities remain in poverty, which may not be the case. Several factors may contribute to money challenges Natives face in their communities. Learning more about how some Native communities build wealth and the financial challenges they face can help create a more equitable financial foundation for communities across the country.
Understanding Wealth History in Native Communities
Before movement from their lands by the Indian Removal Act of 1830, Native/Indigenous peoples enjoyed the lands’ bounties for hunting, fishing, gathering, housing, clothing, tools and other forms of natural currencies that contributed to their thriving lifestyles. Many Indigenous people continue to view relationships and nature as communal forms of currency.
With some of these natural currencies removed, many Native Nations start to decline. Tribes, then, engaged with U.S. Congress through land and other treaties for the protection of their inherent sovereignty and self-determination. The treaties often led to dependence on the government, loss of autonomy and new forms of poverty, such as breaking down social supports and causing social distresses and psychological traumas.
The Government's Impact
The U.S. Congress still controls commerce, as defined in Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution. Ratified in 1791, this piece of legislation recognized Native Nations’ inherent sovereignty, but with severe restrictions, especially in resource development, trade and limited tribal sovereignty. These restrictions created dependencies for food, jobs, education and health services. Even with disagreements between Native nations and Congress, situations gradually improved for some tribes, but sovereignty alone does not guarantee prosperity.
With Indian lands being owned and managed by the federal government, most Natives living on reservations do not hold deeds to their homes and the land on which their home sits. The Nations, with the fewest resources to create access to wealth, often do not have banks, leaving many Native people vulnerable to payday and title loan companies owned by non-Natives and situated outside the reservation boundaries. Off-reservation pawnbrokers do this in the same way. Often, those remain as the only access to funds when the people sell goods for a small price, only to lose the personal property from high-interest loan costs due at repayment.
While the removal officially took place nearly 200 years ago, those decisions continue to undermine financial independence for some Native/Indigenous communities.
5 Ways to Address Money Challenges in Native Communities
Some Native/Indigenous populations do not have access to wealth opportunities, such as education, jobs, housing and social status. Without ways to create wealth, it continues to affect Native people for generations. You may lack the ability to manage your finances for yourself or your family.
To help, community builders work with tribal members to maximize natural resources through gardening, farming, ranching, restoring food-ways and building community to continue strengthening a sense of place and pride in Native identity.
Here are ways to support building and restoring traditional methods in your communities.
1. Discuss Money Management Skills Early
In the 2015 National Financial Capability Study, 63% of the 591 Native American participants reported they could not meet their financial obligations. In addition, according to American Communities Project, “Native peoples are the least likely of all population groups to plan for retirement, have an emergency fund or have a checking account.”
Each Native tribe has unique governing structures, which tribal leaders may be the best to develop financial awareness among their communities. Native educators can also introduce goal-setting and financial management to children.
“Building Native Nations through socially responsive investing and infrastructure supports — which promote jobs, wealth-building, health, education, food security and food sovereignty — will build a strong Indian Country,” said Megan Minoka-Hill (Oneida), director of the Honoring Nations program at Harvard and the program director of the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development.
Because the Native Nations are diverse and exist across North America and other islands, there can be many ways the 574 federally recognized tribes can address the money management barrier for your well-being and the community.
2. Restore Native Communities By Building Assets
Of the 591 Natives surveyed in the National Financial Capability Study, 41% reported spending an amount of money equal to their monthly incomes. That means there may not be much left for emergency funds, investing or saving for the future.
Some tribes restore their communities through various resources and assets, which can teach other Native Nations how to reach financial security. For example, the Center for Social Development's policy report highlights the wide array of resources available to help Natives take control of their lives and encourages them to participate in their communities in meaningful and effective ways. The report further discusses ways to build wealth in tribal communities, focusing on building assets and providing helpful action plans and approaches.
Besides financial holdings, you can look at assets as the natural resources around you, such as relationships, as your own marketable and life-sustaining skills.
Assets are also in the physical infrastructure of your tribal community, the community’s institutions, legal and political support and most importantly, your cultural assets. Natives thrived for thousands of years before colonial settlers came to North America. There are ways to restore native assets and turn them into currencies to benefit Native communities.
3. Use Traditional Values to Empower Finances
For some tribes, getting back to their roots of honoring the natural resources can help make their way back to security and wealth. One quarter of Natives in the National Financial Capability Study said they occasionally overdraw their checking accounts. That percentage aligns with the overall percentage of Natives living in poverty on a national level, according to the U.S. Census.
While checking accounts are not the same as traditional forms of currencies, you can look to your traditional values and adopt similar concepts when using modern financial resources.
Tiana Suazo (Taos/Jemez Pueblos), the executive director of the Red Willow Center, explains as a traditional practice, the Taos Peoples kept food storages for seven years, so when droughts in hunting and crop-raising hit, every citizen met their nutritional needs. Farming, in this way, was many Native communities’ source of income since they traded with other people. Those food storages disappeared when their foodways were taken away with colonization and removal.
In traditional culture, Native/Indigenous peoples who obtained any source of wealth, such as a valuable tool or food, were expected to share these resources with others in the community. By sharing, you and future generations can continue to grow and benefit from reserves.
4. Use Assistance Programs to Help With Finances
Because Natives moved from their food and land resources, which plunged them into generations of poverty, they struggled with new ways to earn living wages and navigate the often exclusionary systems that run counter to their traditional ways of life. It can make it harder to fulfill monthly payments and save money over time without a strong foundation.
5. Be Aware of Predatory Lenders and Find Ways to Manage Debt
The National Financial Capability Study reported that a quarter of Natives surveyed said they receive money from family members. Many Natives continue to learn how to manage money on a personal level and then share it with others. For those who need to borrow money, be aware of predatory lenders such as payday and title lenders with their very high-interest rates. Using such sources for borrowing money can set you up for larger debt that you might not be able to repay.
Additional Resources to Support Native Communities
Many Native Nations find ways to diversify their present resources to meet the needs of tribal citizens and non-Native people. You can find additional programs and organizations that support Native communities below.
Financial Education and Assistance Programs
- Chickasaw Community Bank: This tribally-owned community bank serves the Native community and beyond. CCB features an online financial learning center with learning modules on personal finance, small business, mortgage, spreadsheets and identity theft prevention.
- Direct Assistance (Financial Assistance & Social Services): The U.S. Department of the Interior Indian Affairs provides direct assistance through the Financial Assistance and Social Services (FASS). It is available to tribe members who may not qualify for Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) services.
- First Nations Community Financial: This website helps with one-on-one credit counseling, financial skills workshops and small business planning to the Ho-Chunk community delivered by Natives. Educational workshops focus on family financial skills, homebuyer education, investing and Indianpreneurship.
- Native American Financial Services Association: NAFSA’s financial lesson guide offers video presentations on how to operate a business, understand finances, make major decisions such as buying a house or taking a car loan, plan for your future, how to protect your elders from fraud and navigate banking and credit through its financial tool kit.
- Housing Improvement Program Assistance (HIP): The U.S. Department of the Interior Indian Affairs offers HIP to Native Americans and Alaska Natives who need housing and/or housing repair assistance. The HIP can provide up to $7,500 for housing repairs, up to $60,000 for repairs and renovation and provide replacement or new homes. You must meet several requirements to be eligible.
- Pay Yourself First Worksheet: The University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Research and Extension created this worksheet to help you manage, budget and save your money.
- Scholarship Resources for Native American Students: Native American students can apply to several different scholarships and grants to aid them through college. This resource guide provides information on what you will need to prove your ancestry, lists of scholarship programs you may be eligible for and ways to save and budget.
Advocacy Organizations and Community Support Groups
- First Nations Development Institute: This “Changing Narratives about Native American” guide discusses changes from Euro-centric approaches to Native-centric traditions. It honors the currencies of Native people, land use, trade, elder knowledge, nature and food storage. This Native/Indigenous-led organization helps its people regain their confidence in their rich history. It illustrates how many Natives stay strong in the face of marginalization and poverty to emerge as resilient leaders in their communities and the Nation. Programs include household and community-asset building, financial empowerment and how to manage Native lands.
- NDN Collective: This nonprofit organization supports Native advocacy through activism, grant-making, community-organizing and other campaigns to build Native Nations and promote self-determination.
- Red Willow Center: The Red Willow Center provides a community support group where Indigenous people can share their knowledge, talents and stories through webinars and workshops. It also offers a “Food Systems Matchmaker” program to help with contactless food exchange and a “Living Library” program where interns share what they learn and are ready to pass on to the next interns or the community.
How Some Native Communities Are Building Wealth
- Ho-Chunk Inc and Ho-Chunk Village: The Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska created Ho-Chunk, Inc. to boost economic development on the Reservation. It maintains a solid separation between business and tribal government. The concept of starting small and building talent from within tribal boundaries assures members to work toward financial success.
- Quil Ceda Village: The Tulalip Tribe created Quil Ceda Village to function as a municipality by focusing on the community infrastructure that assures good roads, adequate water supply and an efficient sewage process. The infrastructure’s success lies in the Tribe’s ability to tax economic development to advance tribal environmental and cultural values.
- Lummi Wetland and Habitat Mitigation Bank: As Native Nations find more success in the stewardship of natural resources, the Lummi Nation advances its work to manage reservation lands. The Lummi created the wetland and habitat mitigation bank to address land issues, generate income while retaining treaty rights to hunt, fish, gather and perform ceremonies in the protected areas.
- Tsigo bugeh Village: The Ohkay Owingeh citizens shed themselves of the federal government’s restrictive housing policies that did not meet the people's cultural ways. Tsigo bugeh Village allows the people, once again, to live close to family and friends in homes built with cultural wisdom into modern units. This restoration of traditional ways included decision-making about village resources that meets the needs of the whole village.
- Owe’neh Bupingeh: Restoring housing to “contain the breath and sweat of our people,” Ohkay Owingeh re-united the people who had been scattered through governmental housing projects. Through the urging of tribal leaders, the people engaged financial institutions and New Mexico Cultural Affairs Heritage Preservation to restore housing that better reflected traditional living structures.
About Debra J. Bolton, PhD
sources
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