Academic research reveals that the history of American Indian business development up until the last three decades can be reduced to a simple yet largely unsuccessful approach: the overriding focus was on what the federal government could do to “help” Indian nations, most of whom were in poverty. This failed scheme tended toward grant-making for projects and programs designed by non-Indians and a development agenda that was almost wholly federal government-driven. Indian nations were often caught up in what was essentially a transfer economy, where tribes were left to manage federal monies, if they were able to secure the grants at all.
This “projects and grants” mentality, so aptly identified by the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development, failed to create or support business development in any meaningful way because it did not address the overriding characteristic of Indian Country: its vast hetereogeneity. As governments and nations, it seems logical now that tribal ventures which are dictated by the federal government’s funding priorities rather than their own talents and opportunities are doomed to fail. Another negative consequence of this federal grant-making scenario was that it sparked a grant seeking behavior in some tribal governments, and ultimately undermined many Indian nations’ own plans or priorities since precious tribal resources had to be invested in the human resource infrastructure necessary for applying for and managing federal grants.
