Native American Nations have perpetually had the highest rates of poverty and unemployment and the lowest per capita income of any ethnic population in the United States. Additionally, American Indian students have the highest high school dropout rates and lowest academic performance rates as well as the lowest college admission and retention rates in the nation. As Native Nations try to reverse these trends through sustainable economic development, they must do so with a limited number of educated, skilled workers in their own communities and with a complicated relationship with higher education that obstructs their ability to create a viable work force. This qualitative study proposed to research American Indian postsecondary access within the context of Native nations’ sovereignty and their social and economic development. Utilizing a theoretical framework of human capital and its role in rebuilding Native American economies, interviews were conducted with 19 education informants representing federally-recognized tribes in the Southern Plains Region. Major themes included financial issues related to college going in Native populations, familial and community influences, academic readiness, curricular development and delivery, the role of higher education in preparing students for tribal employment, and tribal economic development. Increasing Native American college student success and preparation for tribal employment requires collaboration between the sovereign nations and postsecondary entities that serve their populations. Ultimately, tribes will benefit from developing, or continuing to develop, a culture of college going in their communities, educational institution partnerships that create support services for their students, and curriculum to support the training of future tribal leaders. This study reinforces the importance of human capital in economic development for tribes and highlights the critical role that higher education can play in preparing American Indian students to serve their tribes.

The problem with which this study is concerned is the description of the past and present trends in the process of urbanization in Nigeria. In addition, the study explores tribal practices and perspectives in Nigeria's urban areas, giving special attention to the bases for the continuous existence of these phenomena. The data used in the study are obtained from books, government documents of both the United States and Nigeria and the. United Nations demographic analysis documents. The study is divided into five chapters. Based on findings and research of this study, the conclusion is drawn that adaptation to Nigeria's urban life proceeds through modification of the traditional institutions and their combination with Western cultural values, technology and economic practices into a new social structure.

The Naga women in North East India suffer in silence because of the unjust practices of child-birthing in their patriarchal culture, which privileges the birth of sons over daughters. Naga theology narrates suffering largely through Jesus' redemptive suffering on the cross, and Naga Christian women embrace this narrative, seeing in Jesus' suffering both a vision of Jesus as a friend who understands their pain and as a call to share in his suffering. Contemporary theologians have approached the symbol of the Christian cross in order to interpret it anew in light of marginalized communities. This dissertation examines Christology through the lens of the experiences of Naga women. It takes the issue of child-birthing practices within Naga culture as a starting point for re-reading the Christian cross by drawing on the theological writings of Jürgen Moltmann, Serene Jones, Rita Nakashima Brock, and Wonhee Anne Joh. This work turns to the theme of 'natality' in the work of feminist theologian and philosopher of religion, Grace Jantzen. Rooting Naga Christology in the concept of natality, it focuses on three dimensions of the life-bearing work of Jesus: embrace, respect, and nourishment. The central thesis is that a theology focused on natality provides not only a way to affirm the birth of girls in the Naga context, but it also provides a way to re-narrate the story of the cross in Naga Christian theology. In chapters one and two, this dissertation outlines the problem of child-birthing via the term `mascu-surrogacy.' The birthing mother becomes the surrogate for the male who seeks his progeny through dominating the female body. These chapters highlight the poetry and stories of Naga women, ancient and modern, to express the situation of Naga women; they also identify the centrality of the story of Jesus for Naga Christians. Chapters three and four turn to the contemporary theologies of the cross with the question of child-birthing in mind. Chapter five examines Grace Jantzen's philosophy of natality. The final chapter develops three aspects of a life-affirming Christology, based in the work of Mary Elizabeth Moore and concludes by reimagining the practice of the Eucharist for Naga women.

This ethnographic dissertation examines contemporary perceptions of higher education within the context of a Tribal government. The purpose of this dissertation is to understand how Tribal community members perceive higher education as related to Tribal self-determination. This project was partially modeled around two specific research questions relating to Brayboy’s (2012) model of self-determination. Specific research questions for this dissertation included: (1) What are the perceptions of education in a Tribal community as they relate to sovereignty, nation building, and self-determination? (2) Are there differences among perceptions of education between groups (e.g., traditionalists v. credentialists)? In addition to addressing the specific research questions, this project also included a modified grounded theory to foster emergent theme development. Emergent theme development was intended to account for narratives beyond specific research questions. Participants were presented the following questions in one-on-one, open-ended interviews organized around the following questions: (1) How is formal education important for Tribal members? (2) How is formal education important to Tribal community development? (3) What formal educational credentials are most important to the operations of the Tribe? (4) What do you think formal educational credentials represent? (5) What tensions exist between a formal education v. cultural knowledge? (6) What do you think should be the ideal process of Tribal higher education? (7) How well do you think the current educational policies and practices of the Tribe complement self-determination? (8) What are the goals of a self-determination education? Results for this project were mixed. Narratives indicated a relative absence of conceptual constructs associated with Brayboy’s model of self-determination. Additionally, narratives also did not indicate a robust example of group dynamic. Results appeared to indicate an underlying presence of epistemological standpoints to frame Tribal higher education in terms of: (1) Formal Credentials; (2) Practical Experience; and (3) Cultural Experience. Finally, emergent theme development established how educational credentials are promoted, valued, and employed within the Tribal government setting. Narratives produced an extremely nuanced and dynamic landscape of perceptions, groups, utilities, tensions, obstacles, and reforms within Tribes. Narratives also indicated the presence of educational credentialism affecting self-determination in Tribal communities.

What is the relationship between environment and tribal sovereignty, and what is the value of tribally-controlled land in the twenty-first century? This dissertation turns to the Meskwaki Nation, the only resident Native American community in Iowa, to provide a long-term perspective on the benefits and pitfalls of tribal land reclamation. Rather than focusing on dispossession, it emphasizes how one tribe reacquired its land base following removal. In the process, it shows how environment and sovereignty are sources of political and economic leverage for Native communities. They are useful categories for organizing Native histories and understanding how environmental, political, and economic interactions have shaped and been shaped by Indigenous struggles for sovereignty and self-determination. This work examines how the unique status of the Meskwaki “settlement,” which is not a “reservation” because the tribe purchased it with tribal money in 1857, has expanded the tribe’s capacity for self-determination. The Meskwaki story confirms that increasing tribal land holdings—as well as tribal control over them—provides an anchor from which tribes can maintain their sovereignty, creates opportunities for self-determination, and offers tribes political and economic leverage. But land reclamation is not a silver bullet that can solve the many problems faced by Native Nations today. Rather, tribal land (and by extension, the environments on it) is a political tool that can be deployed in defense of tribal sovereignty. By recognizing the potential of tribally-controlled land to create leverage within the paradigms of state/tribal and federal/tribal politics, tribes can utilize their land bases as sovereign, political territory and pursue economic and political strategies that can empower their continuing recovery from the processes of colonization.

Summary: In European judgment the Maoris of New Zealand are the finest of the Polynesians. The intelligence, courage and dignity of the Maori leaders have won the admiration of those who have met them in council or in the field. Their virtues have been extolled by able writers in the past and if to-day the average Maori appears to have fallen from the high standard set by an earlier generation, then that is all the more reason for turning back a hundred years to the days when the Maoris lived and fought as they pleased, when a chief was a chief, and a toa (warrior) played the part expected of him. New Zealand history does not go back so far that we can afford to pass over the Maori part of it. This is especially true of that section which refers to the period immediately preceding definite European settlement. Modern man is keenly interested in the past and research is being made into the histories of all races. Maori history is of great interest to the New Zealander, partly because it is the history of the land of his birth and partly because of its inherent epic qualities.

<p>This thesis concerns the management and administration of tribal land in Botswana. The administration processes that are practiced today are neither effective nor suitable for present and future needs. Existing problems relates to registration, archiving and order among the ownership rights. A solution to these problems would promote a system that secures the right of each individuals land.</p><p>Our aim is to recognize the processes and work methods that are the reason for the mentioned problems in administration of tribal land. We want to find suggestions for solutions to these problems. To be able to recognize the existing difficulties a thorough literature review has been made as well as interviews with persons with dissimilar positions at three different land boards. Interviews were made at the Mogoditshane Subordinated Land Board, Tlokweng Main Land Board and Mochudi Subordinated Land Board. Questions asked concerned the Tribal Land Act, practice of land allocation and location of plots, appeals, recordkeeping and compensation.</p><p>We have also looked into how a pilot study regarding land adjudication directed by the LAPCAS-project, which is a five year running project in cooperation with Swedish Lantmäteriet and Ministry of Lands and Housing in Botswana, can act as one solution to the many problems that exists.</p><p>Our conclusion is that tribal land tenure in its own meaning is not a problem, the problem concerning tribal land lies in the administration thereof. Some common regulations for all land boards are needed to implement routines and structures that will improve the administration of tribal land. These kinds of routines can be learnt from involvement and close work with the LAPCAS-project.   </p>

This thesis concerns the management and administration of tribal land in Botswana. The administration processes that are practiced today are neither effective nor suitable for present and future needs. Existing problems relates to registration, archiving and order among the ownership rights. A solution to these problems would promote a system that secures the right of each individuals land. Our aim is to recognize the processes and work methods that are the reason for the mentioned problems in administration of tribal land. We want to find suggestions for solutions to these problems. To be able to recognize the existing difficulties a thorough literature review has been made as well as interviews with persons with dissimilar positions at three different land boards. Interviews were made at the Mogoditshane Subordinated Land Board, Tlokweng Main Land Board and Mochudi Subordinated Land Board. Questions asked concerned the Tribal Land Act, practice of land allocation and location of plots, appeals, recordkeeping and compensation. We have also looked into how a pilot study regarding land adjudication directed by the LAPCAS-project, which is a five year running project in cooperation with Swedish Lantmäteriet and Ministry of Lands and Housing in Botswana, can act as one solution to the many problems that exists. Our conclusion is that tribal land tenure in its own meaning is not a problem, the problem concerning tribal land lies in the administration thereof. Some common regulations for all land boards are needed to implement routines and structures that will improve the administration of tribal land. These kinds of routines can be learnt from involvement and close work with the LAPCAS-project.

Proefschrift--Universiteit Leiden, 2002. / Résumé en néerlandais. Bibliogr. p. 365-386.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2003. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 175-184). Also available on the Internet.