Enhancing rural leadership and institutions

Rural areas ; Rural development

What Makes First Nations Enterprises Successful? Lessons from the Harvard Project

This report examines some of the ways that Native nations can either undermine or strengthen their own enterprises—and their own futures

Experimental Characterization of Shape Memory Alloys using Digital Image Correlation and Infra-Red Thermography

Characterization of shape memory alloy materials is demonstrated using modern full-field experimental techniques. The methods presented are designed to reduce the number of experiments required for full characterization of the material. Several experiments have been explored in this work; for each type of experiment, particular attention has been given to the particular measurement methods that have been utilized. For characterization of shape memory alloys as actuators, a new experimental method has been presented as an alternative to testing multiple separate specimens or performing several experiments on the same specimen. For the actuator material experiments, temperature was measured using infra-red thermography with an accuracy of up to 2.14 °C, and a resolution of 0.39 mm. Strain was measured using digital image correlation (DIC) with a resolution of 0.09 mm. For pseudoelastic shape memory alloy material characterization, experiments have been designed which provide data demonstrating the anisotropic behavior of the material, which are not shown by previous methods of characterization. For these experiments, the DIC measurement had a resolution of 0.08 mm. For microscopic shape memory alloy applications, particular in-situ characterization has been demonstrated which is not possible by traditional methods of characterization. DIC measurements were performed simultaneously at a micro-scale with a resolution of 0.25 μm and at a macro-scale with a resolution of 0.022 mm. The information provided herein presents these experiments in great detail in order to demonstrate characterization methods which are currently the most reliable and efficient for analysis of shape memory alloy materials

American Indian Self-Determination: The Political Economy of a Policy that Works

Since the 1970s, federal American Indian policy in the United States has been aimed at promoting self-determination through self-governance by federally-recognized tribes. This policy has proven to be the only policy that has worked to make significant progress in reversing otherwise distressed social, cultural and economic conditions in Native communities. The policy of self-determination reflects a political equilibrium which has held for four decades and which has withstood various shifts in the party control of Congress and the White House. While Republicans have provided relatively weak support for social spending on Indian issues when compared to Democrats, both parties’ representatives have generally been supportive of self-determination and local self-rule for tribes. Analysis of thousands of sponsorships of federal legislation over 1970-present, however, finds the equilibrium under challenge. In particular, since the late 1990s, Republican congressional support for policies of self-determination has fallen off sharply and has not returned. The recent change in the party control of Congress calls into question the sustainability of self-determination through self-governance as a central principle of federal Indian policy

American Indian Self-Determination: The Political Economy of a Successful Policy

This report examines some of the ways that Native nations can either undermine or strengthen their own enterprises—and their own futures.

Reloading the Dice: Improving the Chances for Economic Development on American Indian Reservations

The experiences of a wide array of societies around the world amply demonstrate that achieving sustained, self-determined economic development is a complex and difficult task. Certainly this is the case on the Indian reservations of the United States, where numerous obstacles face tribal leaders, managers, and other individuals concerned about the economic wellbeing of their peoples. In the introductory chapter, the editors of this volume review the specific obstacles that Indian nations face as they pursue their own development goals, outline the critical role that institutions of tribal governance play in the development process, and suggest ways that newly empowered tribal governments can improve tribes' own chances of achieving self-determined development success