State-Tribal Economic Development Initiatives

Before explaining in detail either the relationship of State Government to Indian tribes in the United States, or the various economic development programs that they are jointly initiating, it is important to describe, at least briefly, the respective roles of federal, state and reservation government agencies. First, therefore, this report will mention issues of jurisdiction, then will move toward state-sponsored programs with reference to the types of partnerships and models currently in use in Arizona. Attention will be turned, subsequently, to specific economic development projects, such as oil and gas extraction, tourism, home-based crafts and certain educational initiatives that underpin all Arizona-based state-tribal economic expansion activities. This report will conclude with an optimistic overview of the current status of state-tribal economic development.

The Secretary of the Interior is ultimately responsible at the federal level for resource and economic development on all Indian lands, just as he, or she, is in charge of all federally controlled property. However, there is a power-sharing arrangement between the Department of the Interior and the specific State where the reservation is located. Occasionally, there is friction between the federal government and the State, as in Arizona’s controversial Glen Canyon Dam project. Secretary of the Interior Babbitt plans to give 13,500 acre-feet of water from the dam to the Navajo and Hopi tribes (The Arizona Republic, July 17, 2000). The State and powerful private interests oppose this decision. Ultimately, it seems likely that the federal government’s decision will remain intact. Indeed, power struggles occur at the highest levels of the hierarchy, as they do at lower levels.

It is noteworthy to point out that the Federal Government often makes decisions concerning Native Americans from the highest levels of authority, by-passing the Department of the Interior. A recent Albuquerque Journal article, for example, reveals that President Clinton directly promised economic assistance in the form of investment funds, jobs and opportunities to Native Americans whose ancestors, he mentioned rhetorically, helped build the nation (Gearan, 2000).

On a broader scale, states, like federal agencies, have "comprehensive laws" affecting petroleum, for example, that must be obeyed (Leubben, 1980, 31). Furthermore, this federal-state joint jurisdictional arrangement is "paralleled" by bodies such as the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), a federal agency, and the state-level Arizona Native American Economic Coalition (Begay, 2000, 6). Of course, final liability (as in the case of the recent Los Alamos, New Mexico fire) rests with the Federal Government for how resources are protected and used.

State-tribal committees or agencies generally plan most Native-American development projects. The State is additionally interested in ensuring that waste is minimized and that mineral extraction legislation is properly enforced (Leubben, 1980, 31-32). In the case of mineral-related projects on Reservation land, the State issues permits for drilling, mining or even for business associated with mining, such as sale of excavated artifacts, samples, or the ore itself (op. cit.). This represents considerable power vested in the State as a sovereign entity. Such authority must be utilized carefully and judiciously to avoid the appearance of the abuse of influence or of discrimination (Reed, 1995, passim).

When examining the role of the State in promoting economic development among Native Americans, it can be seen that the role of State governments in Phoenix, Santa Fe, Denver or Cheyenne, for example, is to promote such development by allocating funds. These funds are drawn from broader sources of State revenue such as taxes, fees, assessments or on-going income from state-owned properties. Allocated funds are then assigned to projects proposed by joint state-tribal committees for further encouraging and spurring approved initiatives, such as The Native American Women Playwrights Archive, essentially a tribal library project (Cubbins, 2000, 1). To achieve and sustain on-going success, "para-statal" or "partnership type" agencies are established, at least semi-permanently, with such funds. This is the case of Arizona on which the present report will focus.

The available literature tends to indicate that the most highly visible Indian Reservation economic development projects are located in New Mexico and Arizona. Of course, there are dozens of other states that also sponsor noteworthy projects, such as Oklahoma and South Dakota. Indeed, the observer must be cautious of erroneously assuming that the American Southwest is the exclusive domain of the Native American, when Amerindians exist on reservations coast-to-coast.

Nonetheless, examining a fairly sophisticated state-tribal structure, such as that in Arizona, will shed light on how dynamic economic expansion among Native-Americans, in tandem with state governments, is possible. The Center for American Indian Economic Development (CAIED), in Flagstaff, has been extremely active throughout Arizona, operating under a state-funded program based at Northern Arizona University. The five largest Arizona tribal groupings, shown on the insert below, in descending order of size, have been positively impacted by the many initiatives sponsored by CAIED (Cornell, 1992).

The state legislature has granted funds for CAIED’s on-going operation and further growth. As is true of most such organizations, eligibility requirements and regulations have been established. In addition to organizing development projects, the CAIED is also responsible for

publicizing the activities of other groups, notably the AAITA, the ANAEC and the NEEPNAL (see Appendix A), all of which are expending funds and encouraging growth in tourism, micro-economic and light industrial spheres of activity on reservations.

One of the most impressive projects, using funds partially allocated by the State Legislature, has been a ski resort in Eastern Arizona, built and operated by the White Mountain Apache Tribe (Reed, 1995, 34). The direct linkage of the tourist industry to such establishments has resulted in spin-off benefits in subordinate industries such as restaurants, artifacts and service stations in the area.

In the case of the White Mountain Apache tribe in Arizona, there is evidence that tribal funds, originally generated by tourism, are being reinvested in Money Management Accounts, such as the 22-H Fund, for revenue enhancing purposes (Yazzie, 1999, 3). Through education and further refinement of financial objectives, many tribes are doing quite well economically and are envisaging further growth of their development base.

One of the on-going problems, however, is the method whereby tribes share, internally, the revenue generated from their wide range of income sources. There may be a tendency for concentration of wealth among the ruling elite of some tribes. State agencies, therefore, are vigilant in overseeing the use of their own funds and in attempting to ensure (without infringing on Native-American rights and prerogatives) equal sharing of profits, at least in rough proportion to work accomplished or services rendered.

Education of younger leaders at schools, already in operation for more than a decade, on the Navajo and Apache reservations is obviously an important factor in ensuring future prosperity and justice in the administration of all state-tribal programs.

Stephen Cornell (Yazzie, 1999, passim) seems to be a prolific contributor to the literature in Arizona concerning state-tribal economic development initiatives. His name appears and reappears in a number of locations in this field. As a case in point, the Harvard Indian Project (see Appendix A) highlights his personal concerns focused on the Sioux and Apache, in particular. In Spring of 1993, he and Joseph Kalt prepared an article entitled "Where Does Economic Development Really Come From? Constitutional Rule Among the Modern Sioux and Apache", the mere title of which implies that there is an ‘interconnectedness’ between how, and to what extent, tribes in Arizona govern themselves and their degree of economic development. Issues such as distribution of tribal wealth are very much at the heart of whether or not a tribe is able to make progress enjoyed by all of their people. Or whether, as in the controversial case of the Mescalero Apache Reservation across the state border in New Mexico, allegations of corruption and profiteering are forthcoming. This adverse publicity, widely printed in The Albuquerque Journal over a period of several months in 1998 and 1999, was related to possible infringement of Reservation Casino regulations, usually stringently enforced (Anders, 1998, passim).

One of the roles of the State, understandably, is to ensure that certain basic democratic processes are honored within the reservation governing apparatus, although Indian independence of action and decision cannot be unlawfully infringed.

Turning to an arena of less turbulent development, brief examination of one key native-American tribal endeavor in Arizona that has merited publicity in the local press, notably in The Arizona Republic, will shed light on one type of activity that can be encouraged, directly or indirectly, by joint state-tribal cooperation.

These types of projects are clearly succeeding and are worthy of further support, in spite of occasional "ripples" in the day-to-day decision-making process or in the organizational structures of state-tribal commissions.

Formal literature, plus media releases, in the field of state-tribal economic development projects seem to demonstrate that, in spite of earlier discrimination against Native Americans by those in positions of economic control, progress is being made in Arizona, as well as in other states not surveyed in this brief analysis. Subtle and not-so-subtle Federal pressure is being brought to bear on previously reluctant State agencies to protect and enhance the resources and development options afforded Native Americans on their respective reservations. The example provided by federal authorities, i.e. the Department of the Interior, is being reflected on the state level, especially in the State’s interaction with tribal authorities. The net result, over the last two decades, has been – and hopefully will continue to be -- marked progress in the establishment of thriving reservation-based industries geared to the needs and expectations of both the public and the tribes involved. Arizona, and her sister state New Mexico, have often been held up as an indication of the directions that state-tribal initiatives can take in the areas of tourism, traditional handicrafts, clothing, and beneficial natural resource use.

References

Begay, M. "Background, History and Purpose", and "Current Events"; "Population and Acreage of Arizona Reservations", Center for American Indian Economic Development, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, March 2000. http://www.cba.nau.edu/caied/

Cornell, S. The Center for American Indian Economic Development, Arizona Native American Economic Coalition, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, 1992. http://www.cba.nau.edu/caied/Alliance.htm

Cubbins, E. Useful Websites for Tribal Libraries, University of Arizona, 2000. http://www.u.arizona.edu/~ecubbins/useful.html

Yazzie, R. The Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development, Honoring Nations – 1999, Navajo Nation Judicial Branch, Window Rock, AZ, 1999. http://ksgwww.harvard.edu/hpaied/winner/law.htm