Over the course of the pandemic, analysts discovered how COVID-19 exposed social inequalities from health care to the economy among different ethnic groups, including American Indians and Alaska Natives. Wells Fargo released a report on how tribal communities can thrive in case of another economic downturn.
Wells Fargo partnered with Boston Consulting Group for the report, which covers 574 federally recognized tribes in the U.S. An analysis shows some of the challenges in knowing how to move ahead is a lack of data and not knowing how tribal economies work.
Having to shut down Indian gaming, which created a record 39 billion dollars in the fiscal year 2021, according to the National Indian Gaming Commission, during COVID negatively impacted tribal government. The report offers tribal leaders a framework to think about other economic development opportunities with the profits they make from the casinos.
The report also addresses the digital divide, acknowledging that the federal government has been spending upwards of a billion dollars to support the build-out of broadband in tribal communities, but that it’s going to take a while for those networks to get done.
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