The Pueblos.
The character of the pueblos we visited has been shaped by their history. All of the more than 550 federally recognized tribes in the United States are unique, but the pueblos in the Southwest have an additional character of their own.

Pueblo Indian lands were under Spanish rule ("pueblo" is Spanish for village) in the 16th and 17th centuries, after Spanish conquistadors came looking for gold, followed by Roman Catholic missionaries looking for converts to the church. The pueblos were then under Mexican domination until after the Mexican-American War in 1848, when they came under United States sovereignty.

The key characteristic the tribes we visited have in common is an ability to successfully meld their tribal values, personal values, and sovereign concerns.

At that time, the pueblos held communal fee simple ownership of their land, which was later confirmed by Congress. Their land was not given federal protection or reservation status until 1913, by which time many non-Indians had been allowed to settle on pueblo land. Today, the pueblo ownership is recognized, but at the same time the land is treated like other reservation land that is held in trust for tribes by the federal government.

The form of government today for many pueblos is a theocracy, with leaders appointed by church officials. Some pueblos have adopted a constitution and others have implemented contemporary administrative policies, but the church often remains a strong institutional influence.

"Some of our 'traditional' ways were decreed by Spain in 1620," said one tribal leader. "It no longer makes sense to have a majordomo whose responsibility is overseeing everyone's participation in cleaning ditches. Our theocracy, with the church as the primary decision-making institution, was designed for an agricultural community in which everyone was involved in the church. That no longer fits for us."

"Religion" is not a separate word in any of the pueblo tribes' languages. It is a way of life and part of all life. In the same way, economic development is in some ways not a separate issue, but simply one part of an ongoing effort to ensure a high quality of life for tribal members.

"[Tribal] theocracy, with the church as the primary decision-making institution, was designed for an agricultural community. . . . That no longer fits for us."

The pueblos we visited had different histories, different circumstances, different approaches and different reasons for their business development initiatives. One has a constitution, the other two don't. One deals primarily with large businesses, the other two mostly with small businesses. Two have casinos that provide substantial income, another doesn't. One has only tribally owned businesses, others have formed partnerships or leased businesses to outside companies.

One tribe wishes it had a bank on the pueblo to more conveniently handle its substantial volume of financial transactions. Another tribe is creating its own entity to make loans on the reservation. And another, which replaced one bank in their shopping center with another that was more willing to make loans to them, wishes it had several banks or ATMs to choose from instead of just one.

These three pueblos have the luck of being in attractive locations near urban centers, with good roads and access to transportation. The research indicates, however, that more important than the resources is how tribes build on what is available. The key characteristic the tribes we visited have in common is an ability to successful meld their tribal values, personal values, and sovereign concerns.

We found what we were looking for at the Laguna, Pojoaque and Santa Ana Pueblos: confirmation that sovereignty comes in many forms, and that it can be shaped and applied to fit values and goals both within a community's boundaries and in interaction with those on the other side of a community's borders.

Laguna: Partnerships for Business.

"We've always had sovereign authority within our communities," said Roland Johnson, governor of the Laguna Pueblo. "Not so much authority that has control over everything, but authority shared by different societies within the community.

"Pueblos don't have treaties with the United States," said Johnson, "because our people were organized into communities that were permanently located when Americans first came here. Our way of life didn't require us to be nomadic or to make war, and there was no reason for the federal government to enter into treaties with us.

"One of the lessons we learned was not to have all our jobs in one industry."

"We were always sovereign tribes, and the lack of treaties between the pueblos and the federal government doesn't make us any less sovereign," said Johnson. "We've always had the power of government and the power to determine who would be a member of our community. We've always considered ourselves to have the right to self-government."

The Laguna were traditionally farmers and herders, but over the last 100 years the tribe has evolved from being agrarian to having a wage economy. In 1883, the Laguna negotiated for jobs and transportation when the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad wanted to build tracks across the reservation. Eventually, communities of Laguna were established at Gallup, New Mexico; Winslow, Arizona; and Barstow and Richmond, California. They also used their access to free transportation to send students to boarding schools such as the Haskell Institute in Lawrence, Kansas.

"I think every tribally owned business that is still in existence today has had a partner . . . who has been willing to share their expertise."

"Our ancestors had a lot of foresight," said Johnson. "They established a scholarship program that provides opportunities for tribal members to attend colleges and universities. Now we're getting a second generation of people applying that learning in the community, with mentors who can help people develop experience to go with their education."

The largest employer on the reservation today is the tribally-owned Laguna Industries, which manufactures sheet metal components, electrical cables and harnesses, electrical mechanical assemblies, mini- intercom components, and other high-technology and communications products contracted for by the U. S. Department of Defense. The business was started in the early 1980s, after uranium mines on the pueblo, which had employed up to 800 people for 30 years, were closed.

"One of the lessons we learned was not to have all our jobs in one industry," said Ron Solimon, president of Laguna Industries. "When the mines were closed, we knew we had to find a way to create new jobs. We went through a strategic planning process with the six villages on the Laguna Pueblo. That process of discussion and consensus building led to strong support for the proposal to develop Laguna Industries. We could offer a manufacturing facility, a good work force, and strong motivation to work.

With clear ideas about what they wanted and what they could offer, Laguna leaders went to a national manufacturer's convention, where they talked with people about possibilities of becoming a manufacturer for national defense products. The response was positive, and further discussion led to a consulting relationship with the Raytheon Corporation. "It had to be a win-win proposition," said Solimon. "They're not a philanthropic organization, although for some key individuals I think there was an inherent sense that this was the right thing to do. But the contract was a bottom-line, win-win deal.

"I think every tribally owned business that is still in existence today has had a partner at some point in time who has been willing to share their expertise," said Solimon. "We've had several very good experiences like that, with companies like Raytheon, Motorola and GTE. They have provided guidance in a teaming arrangement, and we've developed unique relationships over the years.

"We've learned the value of having continued outside experience and perspective."

"In addition to teaming, we've worked out subcontractor-contractor relationships with large companies, to capture some more complex business. For example, we used the DVM Corporation in Albuquerque as a major subcontractor for an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) testing system.

"But even now, when we have our own expertise," said Solimon, "we've learned the value of having continued outside experience and perspective. We have some positions opening on the Laguna Industries Board of Directors, and we'll select people with experience-based leadership ability, not only in manufacturing but also on the management and finance side."

"We have created corporations to run our business enterprises that are separate from the tribal council," said Governor Johnson. "They are independently operated by boards of directors, and we've authorized them to exercise limited waivers of sovereignty so that someone can have legal recourse against the company without impacting the pueblo. This allows financial institutions and others to feel comfortable in doing business with us.

"It's no different from the U.S. doing business with a foreign country."

"Too often, non-Indians lump all Indians together," said Johnson. "We're separate sovereign nations, and we're different from one another. We're sometimes asked to explain the actions of another tribe that has nothing to do with us or the way we do business.

"Financial institutions need to recognize that we are unique sovereign entities," Johnson continued. "We have rules, processes and traditions appropriate to the communities in which we live. Our practices may not conform to those of the dominant society, but it's no different from the U.S. doing business with a foreign country. We need to look at ways of becoming true partners, and find ways to look at one another across the table as equals."

Pojoaque: Investing in Independence.

"The goal of the Pojoaque Tribe is to become completely independent of direct federal funding within the next few years," said tribal attorney Joe Little. "We plan to do this by building a community that includes both Indian and non-Indian residents and businesses.

"We'll still go after grants and special funding for projects," said Little. "We recently received a grant from the Commerce Department for construction of an industrial park. We consider that to be infrastructure money that will help us establish a tax base to produce future revenue, but we want to get away from direct daily federal money. We only receive about $200,000 through the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which is used to support the police force--which costs about $900,000 a year to maintain.

"The goal of the Pojoaque Tribe is to become completely independent of direct federal funding within the next few years."

"Every tribal member who wants a job has one," said Little, "and in addition, tribal enterprises employ between 1,100 and 1,400 non-Indians. We want businesses now with a high profit margin that will produce income we can invest in more business and infrastructure. The tribe owns most of the businesses on the reservation and hires management, but we do lease space to some outside businesses, such as the Dairy Queen and the bank.

"We're not real hot on partnership arrangements," said Little. "We'd rather be in charge. In our tribe, everybody over age 18 is eligible to be on the council. You have to have been at two successive meetings to vote, so we don't have a lengthy process of explaining what we want to do to the community--everybody pretty much knows what's going on. That's given us the ability to make quick business decisions. We can close on a deal in 60 days or less. And we have no qualms about going into a situation, checking it out, and dropping it if we don't like it."

"We don't want to take out as many loans as we have in the past, and we're generally trying to move away from using credit," said Little. "During the last recession, the tribe came close to losing the property our shopping center is on, and we don't want to take that risk again. Furthermore, going through the process of getting a loan is time consuming and expensive for us, and if a project is one we can afford, we'll do it on our own.

"We want businesses now with a high profit margin that will produce more income we can invest in more business and infrastructure."

"It's not so much a sovereignty issue," said Little, "but with the type of land we have, it just takes a lot to get a deal done. We want to get away from dependency, and we've learned that when you do business a long time with one bank, or one construction company, or one of anything, you can end up as a captive business partner in a lop-sided arrangement. I'd like to see more competition from the outside--bidding a construction job with three or four companies rather than just one or two, and having several ATMs rather than just one bank.

"We initially had trouble getting credit with a bank, for the same reasons other tribes had," said Little. "You can't alienate the land, you have questions about what happens if somebody gets sued. You have to deal with those things.

"We have created several different levels of corporations, including Pojoaque Gaming Industries, the Pojoaque Pueblo Economic Corporation, which is in charge of the businesses at the shopping center, and a construction company that's sanctioned by the tribe but also registered as a foreign corporation with the state of New Mexico.

"If a tribe has any business dealings at all, they definitely have separation of powers in practice."

"We have provided limited waivers of sovereign immunity. Our court system has a good reputation--there aren't many people who are afraid to come into our courts. We've hired a judge who is an attorney. The court system is not completely separate from the tribal council, but that isn't a problem.

"I formerly headed the Judicial Services Division for the Bureau of Indian Affairs," said Little, "which oversaw all the tribal courts in the country. I know there was a policy push to make the separation of powers of government a reality in Indian Country. From the outside community, there was a view that you only get fairness by having the court completely separate from the tribal council.

"I think that separation was made too much of an issue," Little said. "What matters is the kind of staff you hire and what they do. Most of the pueblos don't have a constitution, so we don't have a direct separation of powers on paper. But most of us do have it in practice. If a tribe has any business dealings at all, they definitely have separation of powers in practice.

"We've looked for ways to form partnerships when we haven't had the money or the expertise to do what we wanted to do by ourselves."

"Judicial decisions can be appealed to our tribal council, but the council doesn't intervene in legal matters unless it's a bad situation. This isn't so much for philosophical or political reasons, it's more just a practical matter. Fifteen or twenty years ago it wasn't unusual for the council to get involved, and we learned from experience that it was just bad business.

"The negative stories from the past keep echoing, and that's a shame." Little said. "There are a lot of stories, but the reality is that we wouldn't be surviving if we weren't doing business on pretty much the same basis as the outside world."

Santa Ana: Why change?

"We haven't had difficulties with our traditional judicial system because in the past we didn't have economic development," said Santa Ana tribal member Bruce Sanchez. "Some things never occurred on the reservation until this century, but now we're moving into the 21st century, and we need new ways to take care of things. What we're doing is building a community--a community that's been here for thousands of years--and making it better through economic development."

Sanchez is chair of the Southern Sandoval Investments Board of Directors, which is one of the business corporations of the Santa Ana Tribe. He is also chairman of the board of the Pueblo of Santa Ana Gaming Regulatory Commission, and serves as vice-chair of the Indian Pueblos Federal Development Corporation, the business arm for a coalition of the 19 pueblos in New Mexico.

"What we're doing is building a community . . . and making it better through economic development."

Sanchez is proud of both the historic traditions and the more recent business success of the Santa Ana Tribe. He doesn't want to change the basic elements of the tribe's traditional ways, but he does believe some adjustments need to be made to the administrative structure to enable the pueblo to compete in a contemporary business environment. With the tribal council, he has been working to develop bylaws and operating procedures that will clarify the process for decision-making and define lines of responsibility and accountability.

"I hope we can make changes in our judicial system," Sanchez said. "Now that we have business and economic development opportunities, we need to have a judicial system that lets people feel confident in investing. Our traditional tribal court has dealt well with internal issues, but we need to look at a contemporary court system with rules that are fair to Indians and non-Indians alike."

The Santa Ana do not have a constitution, and have no plans to adopt one. "We take action through resolutions--which can be changed if necessary, although that hardly ever happens--rather than locking ourselves in with a constitution," Sanchez said. The separate corporations established in the last 15 years to manage tribally owned business enterprises have worked well. The tribe recently zoned a district for business, and is considering potential leases with businesses that are compatible with the tribe's long range plans.

"Our first innovative approach to doing business was back in 1709," said Sanchez. "The Spaniards had taken our land away, and the Santa Ana people got together their beads, blankets, pottery--whatever they owned--and collectively bought it back. More recently, we've looked for ways to form partnerships when we haven't had the money or the expertise to do what we wanted to by ourselves. We've formed joint ventures, and then have looked for ways to buy out our partners so that it's a win-win deal for everybody.

"We haven't hidden behind sovereignty. We've created businesses and agreed to limited waivers of sovereignty rights for them because we know that in order to conduct business with other private and public entities, we have to give some things up."

"When we don't have the expertise for a job," Sanchez continued, "we'll find someone who does. The general managers of our businesses are not tribal members, but they have the needed business experience. We do have some tribal members in key positions, and we hope to eventually have more, but what we want first is qualified people. It doesn't matter if they're Indian or not, it matters that they can take care of the business."

Income from leases for gas and utility right-of-ways and mineral rights for gravel provided capital to sustain tribal government and undertake initial business enterprises. When gaming became an option, that income was used to build and then to expand the casino. Although the casino is very profitable, there is no assumption that gaming income will be permanent. Casino profits and other business income are invested for future returns--back into business, into scholarships for education, or in building tribal infrastructure that benefits everyone.

"One of our goals has been for tribal members to be able to come home and work," said Sanchez. "But we're not saying we'll create a job for everyone. What we are saying is we'll create businesses to take care of the needs of the tribe. If tribal members are qualified for jobs, they will get them--although we don't intend for employees to be 100 percent Santa Ana, either. We can't close businesses for our religious holidays, which could happen if all employees are tribal members. We need diversity.

"Another goal is for everyone to be educated--not necessarily to have a bachelor's or master's degree or Ph.D., but to have qualifications to do something," said Sanchez. "We want our businesses to have programs that will help our people learn whatever needs to be learned.

"Our strategic goal is economic self sufficiency and independence. Partnerships with outside businesses and people are important, but they must be entered into from a position of strength and equality. We want to accumulate enough capital--our goal is currently $50 million--to generate income that will keep the tribe from having to depend on non-Indians for jobs or financing. We want diverse businesses that will generate that capital.

"What we want first is qualified people. It doesn't matter if they're Indian or not."

"One of our strategies is to create a way to make it easier to get non-tribal financial participation in future projects," Sanchez said. "We're working with Bill Haltom, an attorney with the Nordhaus Haltom Taylor Taradash & Frye firm in Albuquerque, to structure an innovative capital corporation to facilitate investment in tribal businesses."

Bruce Sanchez grew up on the Santa Ana pueblo. He earned college degrees in education and business, then spent 14 years teaching kindergarten through eighth grade at schools in Albuquerque, Bernalillo and Los Lunas. When he was asked if he would be willing to come work as the aide for the Santa Ana Tribal Government Coordinator "for a couple of years", he said yes. That was six years ago, and he has remained since. His personal goal is to help lay a strong foundation for the tribe's future. "We won't know for 10 or 15 years if we've succeeded in what we're trying to do," he said. "It's like teaching--you don't see the finished product until later.

"Two years from now, six months from now, I may not be the one who's here," said Sanchez. "I'm building on the legacy of a former administrator, and with the tribal council, I'm working to provide a blueprint that others can use in the future. Whether that blueprint is followed or changed is irrelevant--it will give people a place to start."

Sanchez also knows that no matter who is serving in tribal leadership positions, it will take time to bring about change. "We may not accomplish what we want right away," he said, "but if we throw seeds in the ground, some will take root. Our tribal council will discuss the issues and look at them from every perspective before they make a decision and that takes time. A business decision that might take six months elsewhere may take two years here--but it will be a decision that we believe is most fair and equitable for everybody.

"We're changing because we see the value of determining how we're going to move from here forward."

"Sovereignty is a big issue," said Sanchez. "It's a word that has different definitions for many different people, but realistically speaking, tribes only have limited sovereignty. We're at the mercy of federal legislation. We're blessed to have people in that forum who are sympathetic to Native Americans, who have been able to protect our sovereignty. The Santa Ana have been politically active, and we use some of our funds to pay lobbyists who will make sure our positions are known. We support candidates for office who will listen to us and fairly represent not just Santa Ana but a whole population of Native American people.

"Sovereignty is an every day--and an every year--fight, but we've played by the rules the federal government has set. We've done that with gaming, and we've done it with our other businesses. We haven't hidden behind sovereignty. We've created businesses and agreed to limited waivers of sovereignty rights for them because we know that in order to conduct business with other private and public entities, we have to give some things up. We don't impose our will on others, and we don't want others' wills simply imposed on us. What we want is to work in partnership with others.

"We need to create an administrative structure that supports strength," said Sanchez, "and we have to continue to have leadership that is competent and able and willing to learn. However we are structured, we need to be able to address the concerns of the tribe, whether they are related to business, government, or social services to the people.

"We have a history of thousands of years," said Sanchez, "and we have been able to sustain ourselves because the whole tribe works together to accomplish our goals. As we plan for the next 20 or 30 or 50 years, we're looking at how we can continue to build our community. We're changing because we see the value of determining how we're going to move from here forward."

Business on the Border.

The business operated in the Mexican town of Palomas, just south of the U.S. New Mexico border, from 1976 to early 1997. The business was initially located in Palomas in response to incentives offered by the government--but many of those incentives failed to materialize. Gonzalez believes that policies that may have been intended to help workers have instead hamstrung both workers and employers.

Palomas . . . badly needs economic development, but . . . an array of barriers makes development difficult.

The Gonzalez family scaled back operations in Palomas in 1992 in response to market changes, and opened a second plant one-fourth mile north in Columbus, New Mexico. Then in January of this year, the plant in Palomas was closed. "Our competitors in Taiwan and China could produce similar products at a lower cost," Gonzalez said. "We need raw materials at a good price, reasonable labor costs, and satisfactory access to markets for our finished products. Mexican laws were making that difficult.

"We could no longer make a profit with the business," said Gonzalez, "but we also couldn't afford to shut down. Labor laws in the United States are nothing in comparison to labor laws in Mexico. There, a worker is like your adopted child. The law requires that when a business in Mexico closes, we pay all employees three months' wages, plus twenty days severance pay and twelve days' wages for every year they have worked for the company. We couldn't do it."

"Doing business in Mexico can be difficult, but there are also advantages. . . .
In the United States, the rules and regulations are more consistent. . . . you know what you can expect."

Instead, employees were given ownership of the building. They subsequently sold it at a discount to a potential chili processing business that promised jobs, but the owner had inadequate capital and the business never opened. "Everybody lost," said Gonzalez.

Gonzalez said the town of Palomas, with its population of 10,000 people, badly needs economic development, but that an array of barriers makes development difficult. In the Mexican Revolution of 1910-20, land was taken from rich property owners in an effort to more equally distribute wealth, and most of that land continues to be held by the government. Requirements to ensure that dollars from export businesses remain in the country added to the difficulty of doing business in Palomas.

The lack of individual ownership of the land, as in Indian Country, makes business financing more difficult. "Working capital is especially hard to find," said Gonzalez, "and banks want 90 or 100 percent government guarantees on the loans they do make."

"I can tell you from experience that the kinds of laws different countries have certainly have an impact on people's businesses and jobs!"

The Gonzalez business in Columbus, New Mexico continues to do well. However, most employees of Concepts in Wood live across the border in Mexico and commute daily to their jobs in New Mexico.

"New U.S. immigration laws will make it difficult for many people to continue to work in the United States while living in Mexico," said Gonzalez.

"Doing business in either Columbus or Palomas can be difficult, but there are advantages to the locations," she said. Both are designated ports of entry, which gives us easy access to markets. "They don't have the traffic congestion of other ports, yet they have convenient access to interstate highways in the U.S. and Mexico.

"In the United States, the rules and regulations are more consistent," said Gonzalez. "I think the state of New Mexico should provide more support and incentives for entrepreneurs, but at least there is some stability and you know what you can expect."

The residents of Palomas are not in a position to assume responsibilities and make some of the kinds of decisions for their community that Stephen Cornell's research has indicated are essential to being able to use sovereignty as a tool for economic development.

"Having one business, either in the United States or in Mexico, would be easier," said Gonzalez. "But with the laws the way they are, it works better for us to have a separate business on each side of the border. I can tell you from experience that the kinds of laws different countries have certainly have an impact on people's businesses and jobs!"