Using Science to Build Tribal Capacity for Data-Intensive Research

National Congress Of American Indians Fund, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

The federal government has a trust responsibility to tribal nations that is implemented through federal statutes and programs intended to promote economic self-sufficiency and the distinct sovereign status of tribal nations and their people. Quality, tribal-level data is essential for ensuring the federal trust and for informing the work of tribal leaders to strengthen their governments. Within this broader context, this project will improve tribal data quality and capacity for data-intensive research by building a data network of tribes, social scientists and federal policymakers; assisting with ongoing tribal data collection designed to improve the reliability, validity, and long-term sustainability of tribal data; and by using the Census Bureau?s Research Data Centers to provide tribes with data better aligned to tribal boundaries and tribal needs. The broader impacts of this work are far reaching and include: 1) Improved data collection and analyses to assist tribes to better meet the needs of the Native populations they serve; 2) Strengthened tribal data infrastructure so that comparative analyses can be developed and policy based on more than individual tribal cases; 3) New insights for social science research about American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) demographic characteristics through real-world data experiences of tribes; 4) Solutions to data security and confidentiality issues facing tribal governments; and 5) Insights for emerging international conversations about data linkage and Indigenous identification in large data sets, amongst others. The United States boasts unmatched scientific capacity, but it has long failed to provide even the most basic enumeration of AI/AN people. Despite thorough documentation that this population is at great risk of poverty and the problems that flow from poverty, detailed information about labor force participation, social service needs, educational attainment, and related information is sparse and unreliable. Enumeration issues involve those related to indicator fit for tribal populations, those related to generating appropriate geographic boundaries for tribal data, and those related to the actual collection of tribal data for measurement purposes. This project is designed to address enumeration issues using a participatory approach to research. It explores the question of how to improve the quality of tribal-level data collection, reporting, and management to assist tribal leaders, federal policymakers, and social scientists. The project will utilize multiple methods, including qualitative data collection and analysis through interviews and focus groups, quantitative analysis of secondary data collected from the Census Bureau?s Research Data Centers and from, and survey data collection by partner tribes. The goal is to produce a range of tools and resources to improve tribal-level data collection and use, including a survey template that could be used by tribal nations and federal agencies like the Census Bureau and the Department of the Interior to supplement existing person-level data collection from American Indian and Alaska Native people.