2001

Native American Bank

Established in 2001, Native American Bank is the only multi-tribe bank in the United States. The founding tribes are Arctic Slope Regional Corporation, Blackfeet Indian Nation, Grand Traverse Band, Eastern Shoshone, Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation, Mashantucket Pequot, Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Indians, Navajo Indians, Oneida Tribe of Wisconsin, Ute Mountain Ute, and Chippewa Cree. The bank is now owned by 26 federally recognized Indian tribes and Alaska Native corporations and villages.

Native American Bank became a reality with the purchase of Blackfeet National Bank, an institution with $18 million in assets. Investments of $12.25 million from the 11 founding tribes had grown to $86 million by 2007. The bank's formation has become a catalyst for economic development in the community. More than 85 percent of the bank's loans, including commercial, home mortgages, real estate, and consumer loans, are made to Native people.

Research in the area of community development indicates that a major obstacle to development is the lack of financial capital. Native American Bank is cited as the "missing piece of the puzzle' in the tribes' quest for economic growth. Since the bank's founding, the number of Indian-owned businesses in Browning, MN, has grown steadily.

Sources

• Kathleen M. Beans, "Financing Indian Country," RMA Journal, 88:6, February 6, 2001), pp. 8-16.

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