In July 2018, NNI Research Director Miriam Jorgensen, an inaugural member of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Center for Indian Country Development (CICD) Leadership Council, participated in two CICD-sponsored national meetings on trust land development and homeownership in Indian Country.

On July 9, at the meeting “Land Data for Promoting Indian Business and Homeownership on Reservations,” jointly hosted by the Department of the Interior and CICD, Jorgensen moderated the panel “Tribal Innovations and Solutions to Data Issues,” which featured the work of the Ho-Chunk Nation, Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe, and Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. On July 10, at the CICD event “Home Ownership in Indian Country: Creating Opportunity for Choice,” Jorgensen co-presented with Richard Todd, Senior Advisor to the CICD, on the topic “Using New Mortgage Data to Create Better Practices for Lending and Housing Development.” Jorgensen and Todd highlighted new findings concerning the demand for and supply of housing in Indian Country and possible tribal policies in support of homeownership on tribal trust land. The second meeting coincided with CICD’s release of the Tribal Leader’s Handbook on Homeownership, available to download or as a hardcopy ordered from the CICD.

Reflecting on the meetings, Jorgensen said, “Tribes can make better policy and create more homeownership opportunities for their citizens when they know their data—for example, data describing tribal trust land, HUD 184 or Rural Development-backed mortgages on their lands, commuting patterns, and tribal citizens’ overall creditworthiness. The CICD and NNI are resources to tribes as they work to gather and understand that data.”

Download the Tribal Leader’s Handbook on Homeownership