Indigenous peoples have stewarded land and sustained community well-being for thousands of years, offering proven approaches to challenges like climate resilience and transformative development.
Yet Indigenous communities face some of the deepest poverty and systemic inequities in rural America. These disparities are rooted in policies that displaced, assimilated, and marginalized Native peoples, and their impacts remain visible today. Despite pressing needs, Indigenous communities receive less than 0.5% of total philanthropic giving. Confronting these inequities is both a matter of fairness and essential to building thriving rural regions.
Aspen CSG partners with rural and Indigenous practitioners to advance transformational regional development by convening peer learning and supporting community-led, asset-based collaboration. We envision communities and Native nations across rural America as places where each and every person belongs, lives with dignity, and thrives.
Reaching that vision requires deep respect for Indigenous priorities, histories, and leadership. Indigenous leaders are central to both Native and non-Native development conversations; without inclusive approaches by the non-Native rural development field, there is little chance of regional transformation and well-being.
This blog shares insights from Aspen CSG’s ongoing work weaving Indigenous worldviews, priorities, and successes into broader rural development efforts, while also honoring the need for distinct cultural and legal space. Through engagement with community leaders, we continue to learn and implement practices that make us better partners.
Holding Space for Sovereignty
Native nations navigate a unique landscape shaped by centuries of legal treaties, federal policies (including forced movements and genocide), and cultural resilience. Their priorities often include protecting land and water rights, revitalizing Indigenous languages, and addressing the economic disparities created by colonial systems. These priorities enrich and expand the broader rural development field. Yet, they also require intentional time and space to honor specific histories and legal realities. This includes recognizing:
- The distinct legal status of tribes as sovereign nations. Tribal nations are not stakeholder groups—they are sovereign governments.
- The ongoing impacts of treaties, land theft, and resource extraction.
- The need for reparative investments that center Indigenous priorities and leadership.
We’ve sought to integrate these principles into our organizational practices and partnerships. Aspen CSG has had the privilege of working with Indigenous leaders and organizations over many years. We have prioritized including their insights in our publications and advisory groups, such as the Rural Action Roundtable on Equity, where leaders like Jessica Stago, Janice Ikeda, Alissa Benoist, and Lakota Vogel have recently guided our work. Their leadership and insights have shaped how we integrate Indigenous priorities into rural development strategies, while respecting sovereignty and unique legal frameworks.
Why Nation Building Matters to Rural Regions
In our work defining and supporting Rural Development Hubs, we’ve seen how centering Native nation-building strategies strengthens entire regions. Native nations are revitalizing their communities while anchoring rural economies, infrastructure, and environmental stewardship in ways that benefit both Indigenous and non-Indigenous residents.
When Native nations thrive, they serve as economic and governmental anchors. Our report on Native nation building highlights this impact: the Gros Ventre and Assiniboine Tribes’ Island Mountain Development Group generates over $33 million in business sales in Blaine County, Montana, and the Hualapai Tribe is the second-largest employer in Mohave County, Arizona. These are not isolated examples but part of a broader pattern where tribal leadership and economic development ripple outward across rural regions.
This interconnectedness is rooted in geography and governance. Rural areas often include checkerboarded land ownership, where tribal and non-tribal lands are interspersed. The result is shared environmental and economic systems. Tribal stewardship of land often improves environmental outcomes for the entire region, while tribal citizens’ participation in local economies supports broader prosperity.
Many of these benefits come through intentional partnerships. In Minnesota, the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Tribe collaborates with local governments through the SCALE initiative to coordinate transit, emergency response, and digital infrastructure. In Idaho, the Coeur d’Alene Tribe and the municipality of Plummer jointly operate a rural outpatient healthcare system that neither could sustain alone. In Oklahoma, the Citizen Potawatomi Nation manages a water district serving both tribal and non-tribal households.
These collaborations show what’s possible when Indigenous sovereignty is respected and Indigenous leadership is elevated. The results extend beyond Native nations themselves, shaping the prosperity and well-being of entire rural regions.
Why Indigenous Leadership Matters
At Aspen CSG, we approach our work with humility and curiosity, recognizing how much there is to learn from Indigenous communities and peoples.
As part of our 2024 evaluation, we asked a broad audience specific questions about our engagement with Indigenous partners and topics. While 83% of survey respondents affirmed that Aspen CSG’s work reflects the diversity of rural America and Native nations, some Indigenous leaders the evaluation team interviewed said that they did not feel fully included in broader rural development discussions.
In response, and guided by feedback from partners, we are working to build deeper trust and strengthen the integration of Indigenous leadership across our programs and communications.
Questions we continue to ask ourselves—and invite our non-Indigenous partners to consider—include:
- How can rural development initiatives reflect Indigenous priorities while addressing systemic inequities?
- What does it mean to truly honor Indigenous and Tribal sovereignty in collaborative efforts?
- How can we create structures that uplift Indigenous leadership and ensure long-term support for their visions?
Some ways we’ve worked to answer those questions include:
Providing Honorariums: To recognize and compensate for the expertise of each and every person profiled in our reports, case studies, and advisory groups. Honorariums not only acknowledge the valuable knowledge and lived experiences that participants bring to the table but also help to address systemic inequities. Too often, leaders from historically marginalized communities are asked to contribute their time and insights without compensation, reinforcing disparities in access to resources and recognition.
Creating Dedicated Space: Addressing the complexities of tribal issues within our written work. For example, during an interview with Vanessa Roanhorse, CEO of Roanhorse Consulting, for our case study on welcoming and belonging, our conversation revealed the vast complexities of this topic for Native nations. In response, we are writing a separate case study focused exclusively on how the non-Native rural development field can increase belonging among Indigenous communities and Native nations that share their geography.
Setting Representation Goals: Ensuring diverse and inclusive participation in our initiatives. For example, at our recent Rural Development Hubs Learning Exchange, we engaged 45% participants of color, including 13% Indigenous leaders, seeking to ensure the voices of those most impacted by structural barriers are well-represented in shaping solutions.
Moving Forward Together
We continue to look for ways to honor diverse worldviews in our processes, priorities, and partnerships. Setting goals and allocating budget for this work at the outset of multi-year projects is essential, while also leaving space and resources to adapt as needs emerge.
We invite partners and peers to join us in this effort. Building a thriving rural America requires that leaders from Native nations and Indigenous communities are not only included but celebrated as key contributors to shaping the future.
Together, we can confront the past and co-create a future that respects the sovereignty, knowledge, and leadership of Native nations and Indigenous communities.
