Reservation communities already incubate a number of successful tribal enterprises and small businesses that provide significant dollars for use by reservation communities. The Northwest Area Foundation reports that the U.S. Indian Arts and Crafts Board reported 1997 sales well over $100 billion. Similarly, this foundation references a report from the Santa Fe Indian Market indicating sales of $19 million over a two-day period. Not all Indian-owned businesses rely on culture, tourism, and crafts; many professionals are running successful technology-based businesses that manage data, design Web sites, and provide a wide range of other electronic information services.
For additional information, go to:
• Northwest Area Foundation: Research findings and lessons form the content of a new report from the foundation in collaboration with the Corporation for Economic Development (CFED) titled "Native Entrepreneurship: Challenges and Opportunities for Rural Communities" www.nwaf.org/Content/Files/Native_Entrepreneurship1.pdf .
• “Native American Business Participation in E-Commerce: An Assessment of Technical Assistance and Training Needs” Native American Business Participation.
• Cornell, Stephen P., and Joseph Kalt, eds. [n.d.] “What Can Tribes Do? Strategies and Institutions in American Indian Economic Development.”
www.ksg.harvard.edu/hpaied/docs/reloading%20the%20dice.pdf.
• Emery, M. 2005 Rural Entrepreneurship in Indian Country: A Listening Session on Programs, Strategies, and Possibilities. www.ncrcrd.iastate.edu/projects/listening/indiancountrysummary.pdf).
