Native American Heritage Month

Tribal Wisdom for Business Ethics

Tribal Wisdom for Business Ethics helps readers create more ethical, inclusive, and life-enhancing business practices. Featuring real-life examples of businesses already moving in this direction, it provides an account of how traditional tribal culture observed and studied the natural world, looking to the patterns and processes there as a model of how to live and thrive in the human world [from the back cover].

The above table comes from the 1st chapter of Tribal Wisdom. Below is an explanation of the Eight Aspects by the author, Grace Ann Rosile:

"We have chosen eight values and practices commonly found in tribal indigenous cultures which are most relevant to the conduct of business. [...] These common themes are drawn from a variety of tribal cultures, and are common to most American Indian tribes. [...] The eight aspects of Tribal Wisdom are presented in a numbered list. However, the reader is cautioned to remember that these eight items are called 'aspects,' and not 'laws' or 'commandments' or even 'dominant norms.' They are numbered only for organizational purposes for non-indigenous minds. The eight aspects could be best thought of as a hologram, where each part contains the whole" (p. 5-6).

Three Reasons for Applying Tribal Wisdom to Business Ethics:

1. Master Traders
   Tribes in the Americas have a much longer history, a pre-European-contact history, during which they were master traders.

2. Global Village
   Due to the advancement of technology, our world has shrunk to what some call the "global village." Therefore, the village-type dynamics of concern for maintaining respectful and honest relationships socially and with trading partners is relevant to today's global economy.

3. Wealth Redefined
   There is a broader definition of wealth beyond just money. Wealth, when not measured in dollars, includes a richness in tradition, art, culture, family and community ties, a relationship with Mother Earth, and spirituality.

The above story comes the 6th chapter of Tribal Wisdom. Below is an explanation of the piece by the author, Gregory Cajete:

"Telling stories like this one about Coyote is the traditional way in which tribal peoples have conveyed cultural values and taught moral lessons. [...] This Coyote story is about how many times people focus so closely on the details that they forget about the whole picture. They don't have a sense of those impacts that their behavior or words or actions may have, with regard to that greater or larger goal. I think that many times business is like the coyote" (p. 70-72).

You can download a PDF of the story here.

Sovereign Entrepreneurs: Cherokee Small-Business Owners and the Making of Economic Sovereignty

Sovereign Entrepreneurs explores the Qualla Boundary of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and the critical roles small businesses play for Indigenous nations. When many people think of Indigenous-owned businesses, they stop with prominent casino gaming operations or natural-resource intensive enterprises. But on the Qualla Boundary, Indigenous entrepreneurship and economic independence extends to a bookstore, arts and crafts, restaurants, a funeral parlor, and more [from the back cover].

The small businesses pictured illustrate how Cherokee entrepreneurs on the Qualla Boundary sustain community life through everyday economic practice. The author explains that these enterprises are not merely commercial ventures but acts of sovereignty, rooted in local knowledge and self-determination. Each storefront reflects how business owners navigate tribal governance, market pressures, and cultural responsibility. Together, they reveal that economic sovereignty is lived and negotiated through the ordinary spaces of work and exchange.

You can download a PDF of the images here.

Aquaculture, Fisheries, and Food Processing as a Combined Economic Development Option for Indian Communities

Aquaculture, Fisheries, and Food Processing comes from a 1977 report prepared for the Office of Minority Business Enterprise—a division of the U.S. Department of Commerce. It is one of the many governmental and institutional reports in Baker's Oversized Collection.