American Indian Self-Determination Through Self-Governance: The Only Policy That Has Ever Worked

In testimony before the Alyce Spotted Bear and Walter Soboleff Commission on Native Children on December 15, 2022, Joseph Kalt, Ford Foundation Professor of International Political Economy, Emeritus testified about the importance that American Indian self-determination has played in helping spark a remarkable period of economic growth across a broad swath of Indian Country. Kalt, who serves as the co-director of the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development at Harvard Kennedy School delivered a detailed set of findings outlining how the expansion of the responsibilities and capacities of tribal governments have resulted in a remarkable period of economic growth over the past thirty years. “The onset of tribal self-determination through self-government in the late 1980s ushered in the only policy that has ever worked to improve economic and social conditions in Indian Country,” said Kalt in his remarks before the commission.