Financial Education for Families: First Nations Development Institute
By almost any economic indicator, Native Americans lag far behind the rest of the population. According to 2000 Census data, 26 percent of Native Americans are impoverished—more than twice the national average. Only 30 percent of Native Americans on tribal lands are homeowners, compared to 67 percent of the national population.
As part of an ongoing effort to increase access to capital and credit for Native Americans, the San Francisco Reserve Bank's Community Affairs unit partnered with First Nations Development Institute to bring personal financial education to Indian communities in 2002. "First Nations needed assistance rolling out their curriculum developed especially for Native communities," says Senior Community Affairs Specialist Craig Nolte. Nolte, with the support of colleagues such as Community Affairs Specialist Lena Robinson, conceived and spearheaded a strategy to market and deliver eight "train the trainer" workshops to approximately 300 tribal representatives and community development organizations that work with tribes throughout the Twelfth Federal Reserve District. |
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When First Nations Development Institute looked toward developing a financial education curriculum to enhance the economic well-being of its Native communities, the nonprofit found its own ancestral history provided the best foundation. Established in 1980, First Nations is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to assist Native communities in controlling and leveraging their financial assets and in building their capacity to direct their economic future in ways that reflect tribal culture and goals. The ultimate goal is to build self-reliant communities. Through its subsidiary, Oweesta Corporation, and with funding provided by Fannie Mae, First Nations developed Building Native Communities: Financial Skills for Families, a culturally based curriculum designed to help Native people take control of their financial futures.
"There is an inextricable link between the vitality of the reservation economy and the well-being of individual members," says Elsie Meeks, executive director of Oweesta. Meeks says the Building Native Communities curriculum starts with the premise that self-reliance in Native communities begins with personal financial skills.
Tribes throughout North America and Hawaii have been practicing resource management skills for generations, ensuring the survival of their people. Recognizing the wisdom and success of traditional resource management, Building Native Communities draws from historical examples of saving, budgeting, and adapting new tools to benefit Native communities. Topics include developing and using a spending plan, managing money with checking and savings accounts, understanding credit and credit reports, and applying for a loan.
The Umatilla Tribe of Pendleton, Oregon, is one of numerous tribes seeing positive results from the training. Barbara Holman, the tribe's homeownership counselor, has trained more than 60 tribal members with the Building Native Communities curriculum. Holman says the weekly two-hour classes are intentionally kept small—no more than ten—to allow ample time for attendees to have their specific issues addressed. She reports there already have been several positive results. Workshop participants have been able to refinance auto loans from double- to single-digit interest rates, pay off debts and collections, dispute incorrect information on credit reports, increase credit scores up to 100 points within a year, and establish savings for the first time. The Umatilla experience illustrates the tremendous potential for personal financial education to bring about behavior change, which is the first step to greater self-reliance for tribal members and their communities.
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