Amid America’s Economic Crisis Alaska Native and Native American Tribes Can Prosper

Amid America’s Economic Crisis Alaska Native and Native American Tribes Can Prosper
By
Terrance Henry Booth, Sr. Tsimshian

Instead of having dependence upon America’s economy all tribes of Indian Country, USA should give serious consideration of implementing their own all-inclusive tribal economy. Terry School of Business in a recent study states that by the year 2015 Alaska Native and Native American buying power will reach $90.3 Billion dollars. With the dollars available from the tribes themselves established tribal businesses should begin to tap into our own Native American spending. Some of our Native American businesses, now listed among the Fortune 500 companies have recognized tribal spending and now have greater profits for they are tapping into buying from Native companies and targeting their own tribal people.

This writer not being an economist knows that there are several economic leakages meaning dollars spend for goods on services on our tribal settings are leaving the reservation setting prospering off-reservation companies or corporations. If anyone of our tribal people would take note on where our Native spending is going one will readily see that it goes off of our reservation settings. Tribal government spending for goods and services much of their business of purchasing and buying are from companies or corporations that are not located within their tribal settings and thus; we have economic leakages and profits being made by non-native companies or corporations.

We as tribes can prosper ourselves amid the economic crisis of America. More and more Native American owned and operated companies are being established and many of them are prospering for they have targeted other Natives as their main focus of earnings. There are some innovations worth looking at like Coco’s Restaurants helping the Indigenous of Mexico: CARLSBAD, Calif., Oct. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- “Just sipping a cup of a new, 100% organic, shade-grown coffee at one of seven Southern California Coco's Bakery Restaurants (www.cocosbakery.com/coffee) will help support indigenous autonomy to create peaceful communities free from poverty for the Mayan people of Chiapas, Mexico. Starting October 13, 2009, Coco's Bakery Restaurants in Mission Viejo, Laguna Nigel, Laguna Hills, Corona Del Mar, Newport Beach, Brea and El Cajon will offer coffee brewed from beans harvested from underneath the jungle canopy of the remote mountainous area. The coffee retails for $2.49 and will be available for a limited time. For a special coffee break, a muffin or cookie can be added to the coffee for $1.00.

The tropical, high-altitude mountain region of Chiapas in Southern Mexico is one of the best places in the world to grow coffee, due to its wealth of natural resources. Coco's has created a partnership with family farmers within Chiapas to purchase coffee, roasted specifically for Coco's guests.

"Coco's Bakery Restaurant, an old-standard coffee shop, is changing the way people think about their coffee," said Catalina Restaurant Group President, Kazumasa Ogawa. "The 100% organic, shade-grown coffee comes from a small co-op of mainly indigenous farmers. It is hand-selected and harvested using sustainable farming methods. The high-altitude arabica coffee is freshly roasted to give it depth and richness."

"We have partnered with native farmers from the Chiapas region of Mexico to bring coffee to our restaurants that is fair trade certified," said Coco's Executive Chef Heather Gardea. "If the coffee is a hit in our Southern California Restaurants, it's our hope to offer it in all Coco's throughout California, Arizona, Nevada and Colorado. This is not your mother's cup of coffee, but part of a broader story," adds Gardea. "Our company philosophy is to better connect our customers with the origin of their food. We believe you can have a better cup of coffee and also contribute to better lives."

This year, Ogawa and Gardea have each spent time in the Chiapas region meeting with villagers and working with farming technicians. Their goal is to partner with the villagers to expand the 100% organic coffee program and assist them in providing a steady income to stabilize a hard-working community's economy, thereby improving their quality of life.” Tribes of Indian Country, USA can replicate this process with their food products and produces for it is available if the Indigenous of Mexico can do it why not the Tribes of Indian Country, USA?

Drawing from their own selves the Gila River Pima and Maricopa Indian Community acclaimed Kia Restaurant, elite Five-Diamond accreditation given by AAA — following on the heels of Forbes Travel Guide’s highest rating, a Five-Star Award; revival of producing healthy food and assisting the tribe to return to their own traditional foods that helps combat their diabetic health epidemic. Their menu includes food produce from their own Gila River Farms. This tribal business obtained tribal success by looking at their past to develop a prosperous future and has special national awards in the process.

It is time that Indian Country, USA develop its own new tribal economy and we do this by drawing upon ourselves, our culture, our rich heritage and simply being ourselves; like awakening our tribal past to build upon our future that can be one of prosperity. In the area of tribal natural resources; if tribes would give consideration to making more profits with their own resources instead of selling their raw products to buyers who turn around and make greater profits. Lumber and timber tribes if they put in state of the art saw mills with specialty wood for interior and exterior uses they would gain more profits. Besides this they can target other tribes like in the area of housing construction. With specialized saw mills they can create door frames and window frames, doors, paneling, floor decking, all the specialize wood specifically for homes, All this value-adding their own resources and adding profitability to tribes in the lumber and timber business.

Agriculture tribes can do the same with their harvest of food products. Instead of selling their agriculture products to buyers who gain more profits making different food products from the raw farm products tribes themselves should value-add own farm food products. The same could happen with beef and cattle tribes. The same can happen with fisheries tribes. The current picture is tribes do harvesting and processing and sell to buyers. Buyers turn around and make greater profits with the Native raw product.

How long do we keep poverty among our Alaska Native and Native American people and our Native children? We have within ourselves to prosper and create a new tribal economy that not only creates jobs, new businesses, and new opportunities to creating more tribal successes. Every world country is now confronted by globalization. From our own Indian Country, USA we can succeed by buying from our own tribal businesses, from any tribal individual who has a business, from tribal businesses for our own buying power can help us move to prosperity. Other Indigenous of the globe are confronting the global economy and have changed with the times simply by working with themselves and prospering each other.

If we take a look at America and see ourselves as agents of change and meet their needs like in alternative energy field. One New Mexico tribe chose alternative energy over casino for it saw more revenues can be earned. America’s addiction to fossil fuel hinders the progress of energy field and we see the damage it had done in Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico. What is the reality for more energy? Studies show that America will need 70% more electricity by the year 2015 and tribes have already done feasibility studies to see what alternative energy will work for their particular tribal setting. Tribes have implemented solar, wind and biomass next steps should be the creation of tribal energy parks to sell needed energy to America’s energy needs. We as tribes should see America’s economic crisis as opportunities and specifically address how we as tribes can resolve some of America’s needs and we can have far reaching economic gains by thinking and creating tribal innovations and programs that would not only work for the tribes but meet America’s needs and see how we can prosper by collectively working together. We have the buying power, we have the natural resources, and we can create from our own tribal perspective on the creation of a prosperous future for all tribes by drawing from amid ourselves. Let us show America we can prosper by drawing from ourselves as tribes. It is time to see how we can prosper amid America’s economic crisis.