b'OP-EDThe For Indigenous,By Shannin Metatawabin, CEO, NACCABy Indigenous ImperativeTaking the lead on Indigenous development programsN othing about us without us. This political motto istively assess risk, regionally based IFIs knew the commu-a rallying cry for marginalized peoples throughoutnities and their members. Though still new organizations, the world, including First Nations, Mtis and Inuitthey were better equipped to assess the merits of local Peoples in Canada. It is heightened by our collective rightprojects than a distant federal program.to self-determination, as set out in the United NationsAnd what a track record they have had! With an initial Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP)federal investment of $240 million, working at arms length and Section 35 of Canadas Constitution Act, 1982. In ourfrom politics, IFIs have provided $3 billion in loans to context, the motto means this: from design to delivery,50,000 Indigenous businesses across the country. And any initiative directed at our peoples must entail our fullthey have kept their loan losses to well under five per cent participation. This includes initiatives seeking to promotedespite the risks and barriers they face, including the prohi-Indigenous economic development.bition on using land to guarantee loans under theWhy? The reasons are both moral and practical. We haveIndian Act.all seen the disastrous results of attempts to force devel- From $240 million to $3 billionthese numbers present a opment on our peoples. Most horrific were Residentialtremendous success by any account. But the impacts of Schools, but other government-led development pro- these Indigenous institutions have gone further. IFIs have gramsranging from the introduction of farming to socialalso helped clients gain other business-related skillsfinan-housing and welfare in our communitieswere alsocial literacy, bookkeeping, business planning and so on. doomed for being imposed from the outside. And in aThey have created a new class of Indigenous entrepreneurs practical sense, institutions led by First Peoples yield betterin community settings ranging from urban to rural to remote.results. Knowing this, Indigenous political leaders insisted on creating Indigenous institutions when they focused on26 years ago, in 1997, IFIs founded NACCA to provide economic development beginning in the 1960s and 1970s. a national voice for their fast-growing movement of Indigenous Financial Institutions (IFIs) first came into beingIndigenous lending institutions. Governed by Indigenous in the 1980s. They replaced a federal programthe Nativeboards and staffed by Indigenous senior managers, the Economic Development Programthat was falling short inIFI network walks the walk of development by and for meeting First Nations and Mtis Peoples growing demandIndigenous Peoples.for business financing. Where that program had lacked theMore recent examples build on the same foundation. local knowledge, networks and capacity required to effec- Consider the Indigenous Growth Fund (IGF), launched in After decades of enduring development by others, our peoples will realize their economic potential through approaches arising from their own communitiesand institutions.- Shannin Metatawabin14INDIGENOUS PROSPERITYIssue #1, 2023'