A new data report on Indigenous Sovereignty and evaluation is released. This First Nations report highlights the need to change evaluation and data collection practices in Native American communities. Indigenous peoples have been some of the most studied peoples around the globe. But in most cases, research and evaluation studies have been extractive and predatory and continue to perpetuate false narratives that frame Indigenous life and communities through a deficient-based lens. This new report highlights ways to improve data and research practices, especially in philanthropy, by following principles and practices of Indigenous data sovereignty and Indigenous evaluation. This report stems from a gathering of Native community leaders from across the United States hosted by First Nations in August 2021.
Farm Bill Funding for Indigenous Food Producers Needs a Boost. Skya Ducheneaux, a lender focused on growing Native food businesses, explains why unequal funding opportunities are harming Indigenous entrepreneurs. The daughter of a South Dakota cattle rancher, Skya Ducheneaux spent her childhood in the family business on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation. She left that lifestyle behind and pursued a degree in business administration from Black Hills State University while living between Spearfish and Rapid City—until she was called back home to the family ranch. In 2019, Ducheneaux founded Akiptan, a certified community development financial institution, or CDFI, based in Eagle Butte, South Dakota. While CDFIs are designed to serve the broad financial needs of historically underserved communities, some, like Akiptan, play a pivotal role in the agricultural landscape, providing much-needed financial and technical support to food producers.
Those are your headlines at this hour. I’m Colette Keith in the KIPI News center.