Jorgensen & Timche: Tribal Nations and Rural Economies

In Native America x Rural America: Tribal Nations as Key Players in Regional Rural Economies, Miriam Jorgensen and Joan Timeche (both of the Native Nations Institute, University of Arizona) explore the ways Native nations and rural regional economies can rise together. This work is a chapter in a new book by the Federal Reserve of St. Louis, Investing in Rural Prosperity.

In this chapter, Jorgensen and Timeche provide a brief history of the economies of Native communities. Before colonization, many North American Native peoples had thriving communities. For example, in the 1700s, Indigenous farmers in the Ohio River Valley produced 1.3 to 2.5 times more grain per acre than the European immigrants who displaced them. However, by 1980, 41% of all self-identified American Indians and Alaska Natives living on tribal lands were in poverty.

Native America x Rural America summarizes the legal framework that can lead to greater tribal control and, with greater control, greater economic prosperity. Jorgensen and Timeche highlight the diverse industries represented in reservation economies including agriculture, oil and gas, forestry, fishing, retail trade, finance, hospitality, gaming, tourism, health care, and government services.

Jorgensen and Timeche also identify some of the ways Native nations and rural regions can work together to increase economic success, including through regional government partnerships. Native America x Rural America also underscores the fact that the growing areas of rural America are the diverse areas of rural America. Jorgensen and Timeche suggest Native communities are poised to become even larger contributors to the vitality of rural America in the years to come.