Representatives from several Native American tribes, including the Forest Band of Potawatomi Nation of Wisconsin and the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin, will gather at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian on Tuesday, Sept. 23, to announce the launch of the first-ever Native American economic consortium.
Called the Native American Group, initial participants also will include the Seminole Tribe of Florida; the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, Connecticut; the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, California; the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians, Oregon; the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Colorado; the Oglala Sioux Tribe, South Dakota; and the Spirit Lake Dakotah Nation, North Dakota.
The Native American Group will bring the most economically advantaged tribes - especially those with diverse business interests - together to leverage their collective buying power to benefit all of "Indian Country."
Through a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs, the consortium has enlisted the support of federal officials to help identify additional tribes to participate in consortium programs.
"Our overall goal is economic development for more than 500 Indian tribes," said Richard Bowers, president of the board of directors of the Seminole Tribe. "We want to spread economic opportunity in 'Indian Country' by encouraging more tribes to get into business and by offering more products and services to each other. The consortium offers a ready-made market for tribes with available products or the opportunity to develop them."
Native American tribes to form economic consortium
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