Strategic planning for tribal economic development: A culturally appropriate model for consensus building

The Americans for Indian Opportunity (AIO), a national Indian organization concerned primarily with tribal governance issues, has sponsored numerous projects during the 1980s which suggest that better models of communication and consensus-building are desperately needed within Indian tribal communities. Due in part to the use of forms of problem-solving that are incongruent with tribal values and cultural patterns, many Indian communities have been paralyzed in their efforts to develop consensus on strategic plans. While many tribes have experimented with various forms of conflict management techniques, careful consideration must be given to the appropriateness of the approach employed Because the cultural traditions of Indian communities are rooted in a consensual approach to problem-solving, dispute resolution approaches imposed by non-Indian law and bureaucracies often conflict with tribal values. This paper reports the attempt of one tribe, the Winnebago in Nebraska, to introduce a system of planning and problem-solving adequate for dealing with the needs of the tribal community in a culturally appropriate manner.