Legacy: Tribal Indicators

In 2012 and 2013, the American Indian Policy Institute (AIPI) at ASU worked on the Tribal Indicators Project, which sought to carefully analyze and better understand the applied uses of U.S. Census data with American Indian Studies and the Center for Population Dynamics.

The Census/ACS Analysis project was a collaboration between the ASU American Indian Policy Institute (AIPI), the Center for Population Dynamics (CePoD), American Indian Studies (AIS), and tribal stakeholders to research and analyze population data concerning American Indians. The goal of the collaboration was to gather and analyze this important but poorly understood data, present the information, and increase the capacity of Indian Country by providing apprenticeships for students and training for tribal staff.

The  Tribal Indicators Project was undertaken at the request of tribal leaders and managers who asked for innovative tools to assist them in determining long-term goals for sustaining their communities. At the time of the Project, Tribes were looking at ways to measure progress towards goals to assist with governmental decision-making. The needed foundation of this effort was for tribal governments to have meaningful and accurate data.