Equipping Tribes with Critical Data for Economic Self-determination

Guest Opinion. At a conference last year, I experienced one of those moments when a thought-provoking comment pulls your mind far beyond where you currently are. In a panel discussion about data utility in Indian Country, a co-panelist observed that addressing economic data gaps in Indian Country raises two opposing truths: that sharing data is both vital and scary. 

Several months removed now, I’ve had ample opportunity to reflect on this remark. I believe that like my colleague on the panel, many of us feel the tension between data hesitancy and necessity—especially in a world reliant on data in decision-making. As Native individuals and decision-makers, we understand the risks of sharing closely held data because of the history of tribal data being used without the community’s consent or in ways where others control our communities’ narratives. However, as economic development professionals, we also recognize that quality tribal data are essential for making evidence-based decisions and articulating economic realities to policymakers. 

The wisdom, I believe, is in framing the issue as a both/and rather than an either/or. In other words, while the hesitancy of sharing information to construct an accurate understanding of our communities is real, we still need to continue advancing our collective data capacity across Indian Country. So how can we ease our natural reluctance to share data enough to explore a path forward?

Over the past year, the Center for Indian Country Development (CICD), a research and policy institute headquartered at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, has ventured down the path toward answering this critical question. In a first-of-its-kind initiative, our pilot Survey of Native Nations introduces the possibility of a new era in tribal data partnership. 

Public finance data can help shape Indian Country opportunities

CICD has been working to address the both/and of public finance data in Indian Country: both the modern need and the risks of tribal data misuse. Anchored in both Indian Country and the Federal Reserve System—an independent institution, distinct from the federal government, with comprehensive data-security protocols and a decades-long track record of stewarding critical data—CICD brings its combined both/and strengths to bear on solutions. 

The Survey of Native Nations responds to needs we have heard from tribal leaders who want to make evidence-based decisions about economic development in their communities. In recent years, CICD made existing public data more readily available to decision-makers across Indian Country through a suite of new data resources. 

However, a clear gap remains: The type of benchmark public finance data that has long been available to state and local governments simply doesn’t exist for tribal communities. Like their local and state peers, tribal governments need public finance data to assess how their treasuries compare to others in their region and across the country. Such data can illuminate revenue opportunities and provide concrete evidence of tribal communities’ economic contributions and needs. 

To date, there hasn’t been a comprehensive source for understanding the revenues and expenditures of tribal governments. Frankly, without a secure way to gather and steward closely held financial information while honoring tribal data sovereignty, there shouldn’t be such a source. 

We aimed to change that. 

Tribal data sovereignty is essential in closing gaps

Last summer and fall, CICD partnered with five tribal governments in Montana to pilot the Survey of Native Nations, which is designed to equip tribal governments with comparable public finance data. The survey marshals CICD’s relationships across Indian Country, our research principles for honoring tribal data sovereignty, and the Federal Reserve System’s infrastructure for secure data collection and handling. Data conversations hosted by CICD over the past few years have made it clear that transparent protocols for upholding tribal data sovereignty are essential to address the hesitancy side of the data-gap equation.  

The survey pilot enabled CICD to proceed cautiously and fine-tune the survey instrument and procedures. Participants expressed that the value of the data analysis they received will be crucial in making informed decisions about managing their treasuries, and they provided valuable feedback to refine the survey. For this, we are very grateful.

Moving forward through relationships

Following the success of the initial pilot, CICD formed partnerships with the United South and Eastern Tribes (USET) and the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI) to make the survey more widely available. Like CICD and other partners across Indian Country, these organizations are working through the tension of addressing data gaps to fulfill their members’ information needs. This summer, these Native organization partners are offering the Survey of Native Nations to their nearly 100 member tribes across the South and East and the Pacific Northwest. Such partnerships offer another tool for addressing the hesitancy of data sharing—that it be done in trusted collaboration. 

That’s where the wise conference-panel comment from last year pulled my mind that day—back to the history of my people’s data relationships.

When I think about the data-sharing practices of my ancestors, I’m reminded that we’ve always been intentional about sharing information. My people—the Salish—have a tradition of crossing the mountains in Montana to meet with other tribes to transfer information, such as climate indicators and q̓ʷeyq̓ʷay (buffalo) migration patterns, and share Native language knowledge . Since time immemorial, we’ve understood that sharing information with peers can be mutually beneficial.

The same need to learn from each other exists today. Individual tribal governments managing their treasuries can benefit from a clear understanding of what peer governments are doing. If we can develop trusted partnerships for data collaboration, we can work through the accompanying tension. 

Vigilant and concrete advancements

As we expand the Survey of Native Nations, the public finance benchmark data available to tribal governments will become more comprehensive and valuable. We’re taking it step by step, working with partners to carefully grow and refine the effort.

The five tribal governments in Montana that participated in the initial pilot did something courageous: They trusted CICD to safeguard their closely held financial data. Buoyed by this early experience, participants in the current survey expansion are doing the same. They’ve developed confidence that essential public finance data are protected by data security and collaboration. 

For me, that means we’re finding an important balance in paving this critical path forward. Together.

If you are interested in learning more about the Survey of Native Nations and how your tribe might participate, contact CICD Engagement Director Heather Sobrepena (Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and Crow Tribe). 

Casey Lozar is an enrolled member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and director of the Center for Indian Country Development, a research and policy center of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Prior to joining the Minneapolis Fed in 2018, Casey served in economic development and higher education roles for the state of Montana, as well as executive leadership roles in national Native American nonprofits, including the American Indian College Fund and the Notah Begay III Foundation. He is based in Helena, Montana.