DOE Student Intern Applies an Asset-Based Framework to Tribal Energy Planning

When I look at the world today, with all of its wonders and faults, I see opportunity. All around us are opportunities to redesign landscapes and to collectively create sustainable environments. With these possibilities in mind, I decided to pursue a master’s degree in urban planning as a means to improve reservation life and encourage people to connect with their cultures. 

Many indigenous groups have become fragmented when faced with the hardships associated with remaining self-sufficient in an environment with limited opportunities and little unity. This is common in South America, Africa, and on my own Reservation. My ancestors were one of the 12 original families to live on the Yomba Shoshone Reservation located in central Nevada, where there is now a federally recognized tribal government.

My personal goal is to use planning as a tool for empowerment and a means to build respectful partnerships with indigenous peoples. Like social planner Herbert Gans, I believe planning should complement its architectural roots with an understanding of behavioral sciences. Adopting a more participatory style of planning, similar to that pioneered by philosopher Paulo Freire, is an opportunity to advance the development of society by empowering historically marginalized groups to envision their futures and actively analyze their current situations.

In 2012, I was selected to be a part of the Global Engagement Studies Institute program through Northwestern University. The program took me to South Africa, where I lived with the Tsonga people, descendants of a Bantu-speaking tribe. Analogous to the current situation on my Reservation, the Tsonga people were experiencing high levels of unemployment, limited educational opportunities, and extreme poverty. I worked with an active group of residents to create a social enterprise focused on nutritional education and professional skills development. This experience demonstrated to me the power of inclusionary planning and asset-based community development (ABCD). 

Mindful of the value of ABCD, I began my summer research project to further my thesis research and to develop a specialization in strategic energy resource planning on Indian reservations. During my internship with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Indian Energy, I visited various tribes to learn more about strategic energy planning and renewable energy project implementation directly from tribal members. Observing tribes’ successes, I have also tried to understand why projects work in some instances and fail in others. My research project developed out of site visits across California and the Southwest.

Each of the 567 federally recognized tribes in the United States has its own expression of culture, language, and history. This quickly became evident to me with each site visit. For example, the Ramona Band of Cahuilla Indians is small in terms of the number of members, but the Tribe’s development of ecotourism facilities and off-grid energy systems was very impressive. On the other end of the spectrum was the Navajo Nation, which has more than 300,000 enrolled members and is home to the first established tribal utility authority, but has a less developed ecotourism industry. Each tribe has its own strengths with regard to energy planning; for some it may be their size or land base, and for others it may be a particularly motivated tribal member.

In addition to motivations, planning plays an important role in the development and successful implementation of energy projects. Proper planning can ensure community buy-in and help establish shared energy goals.

My research applies an ABCD planning framework to support tribes throughout the planning process and to complement the existing strategic energy planning methods currently being employed by the Office of Indian Energy. The asset-based framework takes inventory of a tribe’s capital assets, such as land capital, human capital, financial capital, and political capital, and evaluates how being rich in a specific type of capital can offer a tribe unique advantages in implementing its energy vision. Part of my research involved applying this framework to a tribal case study to demonstrate its practical application.

In 2012, the Hualapai Tribe received support from the Office of Indian Energy Strategic Technical Assistance Response Team (START) Program to update its resource assessment analysis and project feasibility study. The technical assistance focused on evaluating a renewable energy project to assist Grand Canyon West’s development. During this process, the Tribe developed the following energy vision statement: “Developing community awareness and participation in responsible energy opportunities [means that] all Hualapais have a stake in the game!”

In November 2012, after the START planning session ended, the Tribe adopted a plan to launch its strategic energy launch plan. In September 2014, the Tribe established the Hualapai Utility Authority. That same year, the Tribe moved closer to establishing a renewable energy microgrid at Grand Canyon West when it received a grant from U.S. Department of the Interior Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development to prepare an energy capacity assessment report, negotiate power line right-of-way leases, and establish a training program for staff to learn how to operate the microgrid. The Tribe hit a roadblock, however, recognizing the need for a constitutional amendment to allow it to take on more debt in order to use the loan funds. Now, with the passage of the constitutional amendment, the Hualapai Tribe is one step closer to realizing its renewable energy goals.

Using community-based planning framework principles and knowledge, I conducted the following community capital analysis for Hualapai.

The Hualapai Tribe is rich in all types of community capital, but appears to be especially rich in human and financial capital. The Tribe inherently knows where its strengths lie and has been effectively leveraging them for quite some time. It has been extremely successful in its energy resource development endeavors and has played to its strengths. Moving forward, the Tribe can continue to exercise its sovereignty by finalizing a master plan or establishing a microgrid for Grand Canyon West.

The asset-based framework presented in my internship research paper and presentation could be used as an additional resource for tribes, especially those experiencing difficulties progressing through the strategic energy planning process. The methodology may help tribal governments reframe the discussion to maintain a positive focus instead of devolving into a discussion of challenges and deficiencies. In this way, the framework may help tribes develop their energy resources more efficiently and effectively.

Energy planning is a vital component of building more cohesive and resilient tribal communities. Communities that recognize their strengths and value their local knowledge become stronger together. This is why I believe the ABCD framework could go beyond energy planning efforts as it addresses deeper tribal community issues and enables tribes to design futures that best suit their needs and reflect their cultural values.