Tribes of North America how Can we Prosper?
By
Terrance H. Booth, Sr.- Tsimshian Tribe
Tribes across America can well benefit economically from among themselves. In recent years the buying power of Alaska Native and Natives American has risen in huge percentages. More Native Businesses need to be placed within tribal lands for there are many “economic leakages” within most of the reservation settings. “Economic leakages” means dollars that are spent off reservation settings and economic benefits going to neighbors instead of the Tribes. Some of the tribal businesses need to become more aware of the possibilities of setting up business that meet their daily needs for groceries, fresh vegetables, their own tribally owned dairy farms, need for Native owned clothing stores for entire family. Tribes need to seriously look at the goods and services areas in most cases takes dollars away from the reservation settings instead of dollars kept within reservation settings. This writers late father once said, "Too really look at tribal economic development is a re-discovery of ourselves." He then told us about our ancestors who traded and bartered with other tribes. Tsimshian people had an extensive trade route going clear to ice edge of the Arctic Circle clear down the Pacific Coast near Central America.
We have prime examples to look at with other Indigenous Asian buying power by year will reach $697 Billion by year 2014. Notice how they do it in some of the larger cities of America? Once they settle in within a community you notice Asian Stores, Asian Restaurants, Asian Grocery Stores, Asian Clothing Stores ,Asian Banks, Asians selling goods and services and they all are supportive of one another and prospering one another by buyiing from each other. The work together, they maintain their culture, mutual dependence upon one another and they network with each other clear around the globe no matter where they live they prosper one another.
Conversely, we as Natives of North America can have our Native Stores,. Native Restaurants, Native Grocery Stores, Native Clothing Stores, more Native Banks and we too can sell goods and services to one another. This writer encourages us Natives of North America to work together building one another up, create more businesses on tribal lands that would stop the economic leakages and begin to take great strides in prospering ourselves. We Natives are in agriculture, all kinds of fisheries, beef and cattle business, several Native Designed Clothing, and some Native businesses capitalizing upon the economic leakages and economically benefiting their own business and putting their Native people to work. There is a network being established between tribes but most of it is in advocacy organization, technical assistance and training and some tribal economic development training.
What is being written about us Natives and our Progress:
1. The tribal businesses need to know their own tribal people and their buying power. "Native Americans' buying power will increase from $19.7 million in 1990 to $84.6 million in 2013, an increase of 329.0%, which is significantly higher than the 209.1% growth rate for Whites. Native Americans' share of the consumer market will be 0.6% in 2013." (Jeffrey M. Humphreys, "The multicultural economy 2007: America's minority buying power," Selig Center for Economic Growth, University of Georgia (2008)).
2. The Selig Center projects that the nation’s Native American buying power will rise from $19.7 billion in 1990, to $39.1 billion in 2000, to $64.7 billion in 2009, and to $82.7 billion in 2014. Native American buying power in 2009 will be 65 percent greater than in 2000. The 2000-2009-percentage gain is larger than the increases in buying power estimated for whites (46 percent), for the U.S. population as a whole (49 percent), and for blacks (54 percent). It is smaller than those estimated for Asians (89 percent) and for Hispanics (100 percent), however. Despite this fast-paced growth, Native Americans will account for only 0.6 percent of all U.S. buying power in 2009, up only slightly from their 0.5 percent share in 1990, when they accounted for only $19.7 billion in buying power. Although comprising one percent of the country’s population in 2009, Native Americans will control $64.7 billion in disposable income, which makes this diverse group economically attractive to businesses.
http://www.terry.uga.edu/selig/docs/GBEC0903q.pdf
Across Indian Country, USA we have many success stories on how we as Natives are making progress. Our youth carry around cell phones some more powerful then our computers. Our youth have the exposure to globalization for some of their class mates come from China, Japan, India, Africa giving to them knowledge that we need to establish our presence in the global economies of the world. Its awesome to visit the schools of our Native Children and you can see them using computers at the third grade level. So our next generations to come are receiving knowledge that we need to eliminate poverty among us and make it history. Let us start working together creating new tribal economies for our people and let us makes it happen now.
