Tribal leaders highlight role of economic data at CICD anniversary event

According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, during the Center for Indian Country Development’s 10th -anniversary and fifth annual Data Summit, tribal leaders and economists emphasized that economic data support Native nations in governing their own communities. The Oct. 8–9 event saw more than 250 in-person participants and over 1,500 online attendees.

Speakers such as Maranda Compton of the Delaware Tribe of Indians was quoted as saying, “Data is one of our sharpest and best tools to protect modern tribal sovereignty — starting with the sovereign nations themselves.” They discussed new tools including the Survey of Native Nations, which allows tribes to compare their revenue and expenditure data with those of other tribes and state or local governments.