An unlikely promoter of tribal development, the National Science Foundation (NSF) has set the bar for collaboration and capacity building. At first glance, the NSF was an unlikely and even unpromising administrator for a program promoting tribal development. Unlike the Bureau of Indian Affairs or the Department of Education, the NSF did not have a…

Of the 37 tribal colleges and universities in the American Indian Higher Education Consortium, 33 are tribally controlled--located on Indian land and chartered by tribes. In governance and funding, the four intertribal colleges differ from tribally-controlled colleges. Institute for American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe, New Mexico, for example,…

The article discusses the sovereignty of tribal communities in the U.S. Tribes are not simply ethnic neighborhoods but actual nations with a land base, a unique "government-to-government" relationship with the federal government, and a status. In the 1970s, the federal government gave tribal governments more responsibility to manage programs that…

Provides the insights of Dr. John Red Horse regarding Native American tribal control over research conducted in Indian communities, the role and approaches of non-Indian academic scholarship regarding Native Americans, and changes in research methodology brought about by Native American researchers focusing on immediate needs of the community.…

Describes the community-based research approach of Barbara Bowman, a non-Indian studying psychological issues at Northern Cheyenne Reservation in Montana. Reviews tribal-researcher relations at the reservation and discusses tribal requirements for research, including approval of the study, tribal ownership of the data, and formal presentations of…