Guest Opinion. A few weeks ago, I was headed to dinner with my team after facilitating a gathering of Native-led lenders and partners from across Indian Country.
On the ride, I passed a poster celebrating America’s 250th birthday. It showed John Gast’s 1872 painting “American Progress,” an image of Manifest Destiny. In it, settlers move west as Native people retreat into the shadows.
Seeing this image used to celebrate America’s history saddened me, not only because of what Manifest Destiny meant for Native people — the taking of our lands and the destruction of our cultures and prosperity — but because I wondered how many Americans would look at the poster and not understand what they were seeing.
Westward expansion took land and resources from Native communities, undermining our ability to build and retain wealth. The consequences are still visible. Our families struggle to find stable, safe housing. Our entrepreneurs struggle to secure financing. And tribes struggle to access the capital necessary to develop critical infrastructure.
Over dinner, our conversation turned to Manifest Destiny and how many of the systems built on it continue to extract wealth and resources from Native communities. We also talked about something far more hopeful: Across Indian Country, we’re writing a different story — one of Manifest Sovereignty.
Those who believed in Manifest Destiny saw westward expansion as inevitable, even ordained by God. But I cannot believe that God intended the prosperity of one people to come at the expense of another. Our sovereignty existed long before Manifest Destiny, rooted in our ancestors, our lands and our communities. While Manifest Destiny was about taking land, wealth and opportunity from Native people, Manifest Sovereignty is about putting resources and economic power back into Native hands.
Native community development financial institutions — Native CDFIs — are helping lead that work. For decades, we’ve been trusted financial resources in our communities, providing access to capital where traditional financial institutions have fallen short. Today, 66 certified Native CDFIs work across Indian Country, financing homes, small businesses, health care and community development. We also provide financial education, business training and other support to help Native peoples build wealth and shape our own futures.
We know the people and places we serve because they are our own. A credit score or financial statement doesn’t always tell the whole story — relationships, trust and knowledge of our communities matter in making sound lending decisions. We navigate trust land lending requirements that often discourage other lenders. When borrowers face difficulties, we work alongside them to find solutions. As loans are repaid, we reinvest the capital in the next Native family, business or tribal project.
Research shows the power of Native CDFIs. A 2021 analysis by researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis found that greater Native CDFI staffing levels was associated with improved credit scores. Similar activity by non-Native CDFIs showed little measurable effect.
Control over capital can also support tribal ownership. On the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Oregon, eight Native CDFIs, including Oweesta, joined Mission Driven Finance on a $9 million financing package to build a regenerative flour mill that would replace milling capacity lost to fire. The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation made a $5 million equity investment in Cairnspring Mills, the development company, and entered into a 50-year land lease for the project site. Through the investment, the tribe secured an ownership stake in the company while retaining ownership of the land.
We know Native-led capital is catalytic. Yet we need more investment to fully catalyze Native economic sovereignty. In 2023, only 23% of the 22 surveyed Native CDFIs could fully meet the demand for financing in their communities, according to CICD research. They cite insufficient lending capital and shortages of operating funds and staff as major barriers.
The question now is whether investors, foundations and banks are willing to recognize what is working and invest at the scale these opportunities deserve.
This Native American Heritage Month, celebrating our history matters. But so does recognizing that Native people are not simply part of America’s past. We are building its economic future, and the benefits clearly spill over into neighboring economies. Native businesses employ Native and non-Native workers, purchase from regional suppliers and contribute to local economies.
For centuries, others made decisions about our lands, resources and economic opportunities. Manifest Sovereignty changes who makes those decisions and who benefits from them.
Manifest Destiny took what was never theirs to take. Manifest Sovereignty puts economic power back where it belongs, in Native hands, demonstrating that when our Nations prosper, the benefits reach far beyond our own.
Chrystel Cornelius, an enrolled citizen of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin and a descendant of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, is president and CEO of Oweesta Corporation, a Native CDFI intermediary that provides capital, training and technical assistance to Native communities nationwide.
