Taking the first step: Nitsáhákees
Our plan starts with Nitsáhákees, or examining the current economic environment. There is no need to start from scratch. A variety of economic “indicators” for your community exist online and can be gathered with input from your community. An “indicator” is a measure we use to gauge the state of something. In the same way that a blood pressure is an indicator of your heart health, the number of businesses operating in your community is an indicator of your economic health.
Economic indicators provide you data for your community developers, planners, and also aid your decision making. Typical indicators of economic health may include the gross domestic product (GDP) of your community, which is the total market value of the sales of goods and services sold in your community over a defined period of time. For example, let’s say that in 2019, vendors in Chinle sold 800 Navajo Tacos at $6 each (or $4,800 in Navajo taco sales); roadside vendors generated $25,000 in jewelry and craft sales; and local retail stores generated $2,300,000 in sales. Then the GDP of Chinle in 2019 was $4,800 + $25,000 + $2,300,000 = $2,329,800.
Since GDP can be challenging to quantify, there are a number of other indicators you might use to measure the economic health of your community. We’ve put together a list to help you get started. We recommend starting with indicators that you have on hand, and setting goals to increase the number of indicators you track to improve your understanding of the economic health of your community.
Once you’ve taken stock of the economic health of your community, you will begin to get a handle on what can be improved in the community. This is the basis of informed and measurable goals for your economic plan. You progress to Nahat’á.
How our Navajo Nation Government uses Nitsáhákees
The Navajo Nation Division of Economic Development utilizes a growth center strategy to economic development. This approach drives investment into designated primary and secondary growth areas. For example, the Navajo Nation’s Long Range Comprehensive Transportation Plan designates growth areas based on community population. The Western Agency has two designated growth areas: the Tuba City Chapter and Kayenta Chapter.
Source: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates
Looking at the chart above, Tuba City and Kayenta’s population has hovered around 9,000 and 5,000, respectively, over the last ten years and has not demonstrated prominent or significant growth. Tuba City and Kayenta are primary designated growth areas in Navajo Western Agency, while Shiprock is a designated primary growth area for the Navajo Northern Agency. In comparison, Shiprock is similar to Tuba City in that the population temporarily rose, and then declined. What might population growth, or lack thereof, indicate about the current economic environment in these communities?
In 2021, Change Labs and Causal Design conducted an analysis of the business environment on the Navajo Nation. Specifically they used standardized indicators to measure the ease of conducting business on the Navajo Nation and compared the data to an off-reservation community (Cortez, CO) as well as data for the United States and 190 countries around the globe. Based on the data, the Navajo Nation ranks amongst the lowest 15% of countries in the world in three components of conducting business: accessing land, getting electricity, and enforcing contracts. While the outcomes are discouraging, the data paints a clear picture of what the Navajo Nation and its community should prioritize in order to ease its business environment.
How Does Running a Business on the Navajo Nation Compared to Others?
Source: Doing Business on the Navajo Nation, Change Labs
Interpreting the Data to Drive Change
Collecting and analyzing data is simply a form of storytelling. It’s the driver of a narrative we can share with community members, leaders, and stakeholders to educate and to motivate. However, many Indigenous communities have had a negative experience with data collection and there is a healthy skepticism of those who collect data as a result. The Navajo Nation on the whole collects and analyzes very little data. For example, the government has no idea how many artisans and vendors sell on the reservation – which means we cannot accurately measure GDP. The government also does not actively track or analyze contract spending of Navajo tribal enterprises – which means we have no way of quantifying how much Navajo money is invested in non-Native contractors and businesses, and therefore no way of knowing if legislation like the Navajo Business Opportunity Act are effective.
We cannot change what we cannot measure. In order to drive economic change in our community, we have to start with Nitsáhákees. We must participate in and steward our own data collection in order to realize our economic sovereignty.
Here are examples of visualization of data and indicators that help us appreciate the economic health of Western Navajo Agency.
Visualizing the data, like in the examples above, helps us understand the issue and make informed decision to improve the issue. For example, the Navajo Western Agency chapters share an average “labor participation rate” of approximately 46.6%. This means that 46.6% of the population is either working or actively looking for work. We could visualize how the Navajo Nation data compares to the median labor participation rate of Arizona and the U.S., 80.1% and 82.4%, respectively. The Western Navajo region’s labor force is within the upper 50th percentile of the State of Arizona and the U.S. This is considered very low. If we wanted to increase the labor participation rate in our communities, what support, resources, or programs might we offer?
