On May 2, the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development wrapped up The Next Horizon: The Future of Indigenous Nation Building. Marking the 30th anniversary of the Harvard Project, the symposium connected more than 200 leaders, thinkers, policymakers and practitioners who are working to make Indigenous self-determination a reality. Spread over three days, The Next Horizon was effectively a series of summit meetings that allowed serious and thoughtful examination of the most pressing concerns confronting Indigenous communities in the US, Canada, Australia and Aotearoa (New Zealand).

May 1 saw more than 100 senior leaders in Indigenous affairs gather for peer-to-peer exchanges of ideas and experiences on the challenges of exercising real sovereignty, the cultural foundations of Indigenous nation building, and the prospects for self-determination going forward. Discussions were coupled with “insight blasts” by renowned thought leaders who addressed such matters as citizenship disputes, the impact and use of social media, leadership, international law, self-governance in the absence of nation state recognition, and culture “wars." The May 1 symposium provided the participants with a wealth of wide-ranging ideas to direct and rebuild their respective communities.

On May 2, 80-90 prominent managers and decision makers working for Indigenous nations and in Indigenous policy met to consider formalization of a professionals’ network that could support career development and the spread of best practices in Indigenous self-governance. Out of this effort, a steering committee has been formed and it is already working to bring structure and strategy to a first-of-its-kind professionals’ support system.

Paralleling the professional practitioners’ discussions on May 2, almost two dozen scholars convened with initial outlines and drafts of research papers which will come together in a forthcoming book intended to spur the research needed to undergird effective Indigenous self-governance in the future. Topics being addressed range from the development of accountable, responsible, and equitable tribal governments and Māori efforts to expand local self-rule in Aotearoa New Zealand, to strengthening the cultural underpinnings of Indigenous nations’ child welfare policies and “stealth” self-governance by Australian Indigenous communities. The assembled authors will come together in fall 2018 to present their final book chapters, with publication set for 2019.

The Harvard Project thanks the following sponsors for their generous support of The Next Horizon:

Anchor Sponsors

Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community

The Citizen Potawatomi Nation

The Bush Foundation

The Endeavor Foundation

Partner Sponsors

The Gila River Indian Community

The Native Governance Center

The Henry Luce Foundation

MasterCard Center for Inclusive Growth

Goldman Sachs (courtesy of Larry Estrada)

The Harvard Kennedy School

The Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy

Special thanks to Fulbright Canada for supporting the participation of the Canadian delegation.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

Congratulations to the six tribal government programs who have advanced to the site visit round for the 2018 Honoring Nations Award!

This year’s programs are tackling governmental challenges in new and innovative ways and bolstering self-determination in Indian Country through their successful approaches to agriculture, health provider training, language revitalization, environmental management, child welfare, and restorative justice. Selected from nearly 80 entries, the following programs will receive a site visit this summer from the Harvard Project/Honoring Nations team:

Health Aide Training Programs, Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium

Myaamiaki Eemamwiciki Program, Miami Tribe of Oklahoma

Native Village of Kotzebue Environmental Program, Native Village of Kotzebue

Quapaw Tribe Agricultural Programs, Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma

Sitka ICWA Partnership, Sitka Tribe of Alaska

Wellness Programming, Yurok Tribe

High Honors and Honors from this group of six will be announced by the Honoring Nations Board of Governors at the 75th annual National Convention of the National Congress of American Indians, October 21-26, 2018 in Denver, CO. They all will join the family of 130 tribal programs who have been selected as honorees since 1999. Follow honoringnations.tumblr.com for upcoming in-depth coverage of each program.

Later this month, the Harvard Project and its sister organization, the Native Nations Institute (NNI) at the University of Arizona, will launch the Nation Building Toolboxes. These customizable, digital learning guides are designed to centralize resources on best-practices for self-governance via a user-friendly, information-sharing platform. The learning tools available through the Toolboxes draw on hundreds of hands-on lessons from Native nations and decades of research.

The Toolboxes are organized with one goal in mind: to provide real world solutions to governance challenges for Indigenous communities. Using Google Drive and Google G-Suite applications, users can interactively bring together the learning materials, real world examples, and technical resources they need to tailor toolboxes to fit individual community needs. Forthcoming Toolboxes cover such topics as tribal corporations and constitutional design and reform. Look for the Toolboxes at www.hpaied.org.

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For more information, visit www.hpaied.org or contact 617-495-1480.