1. I am grateful to Megan Cruz of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and Katherine Arnold, Charlene van Dijk, and David Kaufmann of the Federal Reserve Board for their assistance in preparing this text. These views are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Federal Reserve Board or the Federal Open Market Committee. Return to text
2. See James Robert Colombe and Rory Taylor, "Tribal enterprises drive economic activity in Indian Country and beyond," Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, July 6, 2021. Return to text
3. See Kyle D. Dean, Economic Impact of Tribal Nations in Oklahoma Fiscal Year 2017 (Oklahoma City: Oklahoma City University, 2019), https://www.unitedforoklahoma.com/media/1456/2019-economic-impact-of-tribal-nations-in-oklahoma.pdf. The report defines economic output as business revenues, government expenditures, and expenditures for capital improvements including roads projects. Return to text
4. See Dean, Economic Impact of Tribal Nations. Return to text
5. See "Safely Navigating a Global Pandemic," United for Oklahoma, https://www.unitedforoklahoma.com/community-impact/pandemic-response/. Return to text
6. See "Profile: American Indian/Alaska Native," U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Minority Health, last modified October 8, 2021. Return to text
7. See Amanda Fins, "National Snapshot: Poverty among Women & Families, 2020," (PDF) fact sheet (Washington: National Women's Law Center, December 2020). Return to text
8. See Sarah Dewees and Gary Mottola, "Race and Financial Capability in America: Understanding the Native American Experience," (PDF) Insights: Financial Capability (April 2017): 1–17. Return to text
9. See Donna Feir, Chris James, Casey Lozar, and Ryan Nunn, "Indian Country Small Businesses Face Strong Headwinds in COVID-19 Recovery," Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, September 8, 2020; Casey Lozar, Donna Feir, and James Robert Colombe, "COVID-19: A Deep Economic Crisis in Indian Country," Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, May 13, 2020; and Casey Lozar, Donna Feir, and James Robert Colombe, "COVID-19 and Indian Country: Early Snapshot Reveals Disproportionate Economic Exposure and Uncertainty," Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, April 10, 2020. Return to text
10. See Center for Indian Country Development, "Native American Labor Market Dashboard," webpage, Sept. 22. Return to text
11. See Matthew Greg and Casey Lozar (2021), "One Year into Covid-19, pandemic's negative effects persist in Indian Country," Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, May 19, 2021. Return to text
12. See Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, How America Banks: Household Use of Banking and Financial Services: 2019 FDIC Survey (PDF) (Washington: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, October 2020). Return to text
13. Information calculated using Summary of Deposits (SoD) 2020. Note that not all counties, especially some with high Native American populations, exist in the SoD dataset. Return to text
14. See Miriam Jorgensen and Randall K.Q. Akee, Access to Capital and Credit in Native Communities: A Data Review (Tucson: Native Nations Institute, February 2017), https://www.novoco.com/sites/default/files/atoms/files/nni_find_access_to_capital_and_credit_in_native_communities_020117.pdf and "Branch Closings Typically Create Modest Increase in Distance to Banks," Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, last modified April 19, 2021. Return to text
15. See Neil Bhutta, Jesse Bricker, Andrew C. Chang, Lisa J. Dettling, Sarena Goodman, Joanne W. Hsu, Kevin B. Moore, Sarah Reber, Alice Henriques Volz, and Richard A. Windle, "Changes in U.S. Family Finances from 2016 to 2019: Evidence from the Survey of Consumer Finances," (PDF) Federal Reserve Bulletin 106 (September 2020): 1–42. Return to text
16. See "Alaska Rural Homeownership Resource Guide," (PDF) Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, January 2017, and "Native Communities," Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. Return to text
17. See Patrice H. Kunesh, "Tribal Leaders Handbook on Homeownership," Center for Indian Country Development, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, 2018. The differences in incomes, ages, and race/ethnicity of homeowners also play a part in the magnitude of these identified issues. Return to text
18. See Jennifer Biess, Christopher Hayes, G. Thomas Kingsley, Diane Levy, Nancy Pindus, and Jasmine Simington, Housing Needs of American Indians and Alaska Natives in Tribal Areas: A Report From the Assessment of American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian Housing Needs (PDF) (Washington: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, January 2017). Return to text
19. See Nikki Pieratos and Tony Walters, "Findings from the 2018 National Tribal Housing and Homeownership Survey," Center for Indian Country Development, http://naihc.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/NAIHCSurveyLetter.pdf. Return to text
20. In the case of trust lands, the United States holds the legal title to property, and the individual Indian(s) or tribe holds the beneficial interest. For restricted lands, the individual Indian(s) or tribe holds the legal title. Both trust and restricted lands cannot be alienated without approval of the United States. See Angelique Wambdi EagleWoman and Stacy L. Leeds, Mastering American Indian Law: Second Edition (Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press, 2019). Return to text
21. See Kunesh, "Tribal Leaders Handbook on Homeownership." Return to text
22. See U.S. Small Business Administration, "Small Businesses Generate 44 Percent of U.S. Economic Activity," news release, January 30, 2019. Return to text
23. See "How SBA Helps Native American Small Business Owners Succeed," U.S. Small Business Administration, November 10, 2020. Return to text
24. See Jorgensen and Akee, Access to Capital and Credit. Return to text
25. See Jorgensen and Akee, Access to Capital and Credit. Return to text
26. According to the CDFI Fund's Accessing Capital and Credit in Native Communities Report, AI/AN business owners report using credit cards to finance startups at a rate 3-5 percent higher than the average. Return to text
27. Following the onset of the pandemic, conditions for Native small businesses worsened. The Center for Indian Country Development and National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development surveyed small businesses in Indian Country in 2020 and found that about 68 percent of businesses saw at least a 20 percent revenue reduction, while 1 in 6 businesses reported having lost all revenue (as of mid-July 2020) because of COVID-19. See Feir, James, Lozar, and Nunn, "Indian Country Small Businesses." Return to text
28. See Tyler Boesch, Casey Lozar, and Ryann Nunn, "Paycheck Protection Program leaves some businesses in tribal areas behind," November 19, 2020, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Return to text
29. See Dewees and Mottola, "Race and Financial Capability in America." Return to text
30. See Lael Brainard, "Strengthening the CRA to Meet the Challenges of Our Time" (speech at the Urban Institute, Washington, D.C., September 21, 2020); see also "Federal Reserve Board statement on the Community Reinvestment Act," press release, July 20, 2021. Return to text
31. See Lael Brainard, "Modernizing and Strengthening CRA Regulations: A Conversation with the National Congress of American Indians" (speech at the National Congress of American Indians 77th Annual Convention & Marketplace, November 10, 2020). Return to text
32. See "Pathfinders: Climate-Smart Solutions from Rural America and Native Nations," The Aspen Institute. Return to text
33. See Jorgensen and Akee, Access to Capital and Credit and "List of Certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFIs) with Contact Information as of September 14, 2021," Community Development Financial Development Institutions Fund. Return to text
34. See "Native CDFI Industry Profile 2017," (PDF) Oweesta. Return to text
35. See Native CDFI Network, Native CDFIS: Stepping up to Serve Indian Country through the Pandemic and Beyond (PDF) (Washington: Native CDFI Network, September 2021). Return to text
36. Oklahoma is within the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City's district. Return to text
37. See Ariel Cisneros, "10 years of Investment Connection continue with virtual events this fall," Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, August 10, 2021. Return to text
38. See "An Economic Education Partnership with Indian Country," Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, November 19, 2020. Return to text
39. See "Data Disaggregation: The Asterisk Nation," National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) Policy Research Center. Return to text
40. See Center for Indian Country Development, "Native American Labor Market Dashboard," Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Return to text
41. See "Advisory Councils," Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, last modified June 11, 2021. Return to text