T H E R I E R E P O R T | S U M M E R 2 0 2 3
A Message from the Renewing Indigenous Economies Project Team
The Hoover Project on Renewing Indigenous Economies (RIE) continues to work toward finding new ways to support economic regrowth in Indigenous communities. This RIE Report provides updates on the work of the RIE team and shares resources to keep you informed and engaged. We welcome your input for future newsletters. Please stay in touch by contacting our team at indigenousecon@stanford.edu.
A Message from Project Codirectors Terry Anderson & Dominic Parker
Ernest Sickey, May 28, 1942—May 17, 2023
The story of the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana and its first tribal chairman, Ernest Sickey, offers one example explaining why the Hoover Project on Renewing Indigenous Economies emphasizes “renewing.” In 1953, during the “termination era” of federal Indian policy, the US government failed in its treaty obligations to the Coushatta and severed formal nation-to-nation relations, as it did with many tribal nations. To regain federal recognition, Sickey and other leaders participated in the arduous process of proving land title and combating the legacy of colonization that had left the Coushatta Tribe dispossessed of its ancestral homelands. Sickey and other tribal members purchased over 100 acres and showed proof of title, which allowed the nation-to-nation relationship to be restored in 1953. “Then we were Indians,” as Ernest was fond of saying, alluding to the injustice of the Coushatta Tribe’s former termination of federal recognition.
Under Ernest’s leadership, followed by that of his son, David, the Coushatta Tribe grew its economy to become the third largest private employer in Louisiana. The RIE Project first connected with Sickey and the Coushatta Tribe in 2019 at the annual tribal leadership conference All Roads Lead to Chaco Canyon. That title emanates from the fact that Chaco Canyon, in New Mexico, was a “world trade center” long before Adam Smith extolled the benefits of markets and trade in The Wealth of Nations (1776). Following that introduction, Ernest visited Hoover and contributed his knowledge to RIE. With his passing on May 17, 2023, the Coushatta lost a leader and Hoover’s RIE Project lost a friend. Fortunately, his light continues to shine as a beacon for economic prosperity, human dignity, and individual liberty.
F E A T U R E D E V E N T S
2023 Indigenous Student Seminar
Congratulations to participants of the 2023 Hoover Institution Indigenous Student Seminar, held on the Stanford University campus from August 7-11 and directed by Daniel Stewart. The seminar brought together 31 participants representing 33 Indigenous communities in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia. The participants engaged in lively discussions with each other and with the faculty of leading academics and industry professionals. Hoover Institution director Condoleezza Rice gave welcoming remarks and fielded questions about economics and politics. In the closing session, the participants reflected on their hopes for renewed prosperity in their communities, offering inspiration to all in the room. Click here to learn more about this year’s seminar.
All Roads Lead to Chaco Canyon
The RIE Project cosponsored the fifth annual All Roads Lead to Chaco Canyon conference, held March 23–24 at Twin Arrows Casino on the Navajo Nation. The conference focused on a variety of economic development topics relevant to the region. Terry Anderson presented a lecture on the history and continued impact of Indigenous economic activity in the United States. The RIE team also hosted an informational table, where copies of Anderson and Kathy Ratté’s book Renewing Indigenous Economies (2022) and several of the project’s research briefings were available. Click here for more information.
N E W S
RIE Team Update
Two long-term contributors to the RIE Project have accepted new academic jobs. Adam Crepelle has joined the Loyola University Chicago School of Law faculty, and Dustin Frye has joined the applied economics faculty at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. We look forward to continuing our collaborations with Professors Crepelle and Frye in their new positions.
R E A D I N G R E C O M M E N D A T I O N S
Research Briefings & Papers
This issue’s reading recommendations focus on the relationships among legal institutions, self-governance, and economic and cultural prosperity. In their research briefing “Economic Growth on Reservations Accelerates When Tribes Adopt Clear Laws for Transacting,” RIE contributors Christian Dippel, Donn Feir, Bryan Leonard, and Marc L. Roark assess the effects of recently adopted tribal secure transactions laws. They find evidence that adopting such laws increases economic activity on reservations, presumably because the laws improve transparency and security for business activity. Moreover, secured transactions laws that are tailored to match the norms of a particular tribal nation may be more effective at attracting development than template laws. The research highlights an important way in which tribal self-governance supports positive business development outcomes. Research brief is linked here.
The second reading recommendation is “Renewing Indigenous Cultures,” by economists Dominic Parker and Dustin Frye. This essay highlights the positive correlations between economic self-determinism, income growth, and cultural revitalization for tribal nations. Utilizing data on Native language use, incomes, and cultural traditions, the authors present evidence that destructive federal assimilation policies historically forced a trade-off between economic and cultural prosperity that tribal sovereignty and self-governance has reversed in recent years, indicating that the two go hand in hand. Research paper is linked here.
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