American Indian Cultural Corridor: Vision, Strategies and Actions Prepared for the Native American Community Development Institute PA 8081 Capstone Workshop Professors Lee Munnich and Kris Nelson Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs University of Minnesota May 2009 Tia Anderson Brad Christ Fay Cleaveland Contents Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................ 3 Problem Statement .......................................................................................................................... 4 Project Overview ............................................................................................................................ 5 Diagnosis......................................................................................................................................... 7 Franklin Avenue’s Native American Community in Context .................................................... 7 A Chronicle of Franklin Avenue’s Redevelopment .................................................................. 11 Public Sector Improvements and Plans ..................................................................................... 14 SWOT Analysis ........................................................................................................................ 20 Stakeholder Analysis ................................................................................................................ 21 Diagnosis Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 24 Vision for the American Indian Cultural Corridor ....................................................................... 25 Narrative Explanation ............................................................................................................... 26 Action Plan for the American Indian Cultural Corridor ............................................................... 28 Strategy: Coordinate Planning Activities .................................................................................. 31 Strategy: Market the Cultural Corridor ..................................................................................... 34 Strategy: Share Native American Cultures ............................................................................... 38 Strategy: Improve Public Gathering Spaces ............................................................................. 42 Strategy: Create Private Gathering Spaces ............................................................................... 46 Strategy: Improve Infrastructure ............................................................................................... 49 Action Plan Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 52 Appendix A – Franklin Avenue Maps .......................................................................................... 54 Appendix B – SWOT Analysis ..................................................................................................... 55 Appendix C – Power vs. Interest Grid .......................................................................................... 56 Appendix D – Action-Oriented Causal Map ................................................................................ 57 Appendix E – Action Item Summary ............................................................................................ 58 Interview List ................................................................................................................................ 70 References ..................................................................................................................................... 71 “A very great vision is needed and the man who has it must follow it as the eagle seeks the deepest blue of the sky.” ­Crazy Horse 2 American Indian Cultural Corridor: Vision, Strategies and Actions Executive Summary Native Americans have a unique presence on Franklin Avenue and in the Phillips Neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota. For over forty years, this neighborhood has been home to one of the nation’s largest concentrations of urban Native Americans. Despite the group’s longevity in Minneapolis, Native Americans continue to experience great socio-economic disparities in comparison to other ethnic groups. Consequently, Native American organizations in this community are primarily social service entities. While these serve a valuable purpose assisting residents meet basic needs, they have limited capacity to leverage the assets of the Native American community in ways that promote wealth generation and economic development. In response to this existing socioeconomic situation, the Native American Community Development Institute intends to create an American Indian Cultural Corridor along Franklin Avenue. A Cultural Corridor represents an opportunity for Native Americans to recreate Franklin into a community destination and source of pride. In so doing, Native Americans will build assets and create wealth while celebrating their heritage and sharing their identity with other cultural groups. This report analyzes present conditions on Franklin Avenue, identifies a vision for the Cultural Corridor, and outlines an action plan to realize that vision. The following action strategies are identified in this report: Coordinate Planning Activities Market the American Indian Cultural Corridor Share Native Cultures Improve Public Spaces Create Private Gathering Spaces Improve Infrastructure The action plan provides NACDI with a roadmap as the organization strives to implement the American Indian Cultural Corridor. Detailed action items are identified within each strategy area. 3 American Indian Cultural Corridor: Vision, Strategies and Actions Descriptions of action strategies include NACDI’s specific role in implementation, other partners and potential funding sources, relative cost, priority for completion, and major barriers that hinder the realization of each strategy. Using the research and recommendations found in this report, NACDI is equipped to evaluate action alternatives and begin to translate the Corridor’s vision into a reality. Problem Statement Minneapolis, Minnesota is home to one of the largest concentrations of urban Native Americans in the U.S. For the last forty years, Franklin Avenue in south Minneapolis has been the heart of this community: a place where American Indians live, work, and access cultural-specific services. Today, this presence is visible in the various American Indian institutions clustered on and around the avenue, including urban tribal offices, the American Indian Center, Little Earth Housing Corporation, the American Indian Industrial Opportunities Center, and the Indian Health Board. Franklin Avenue and the surrounding Phillips neighborhood have been the focus of revitalization efforts for several decades. Notable projects include such cross-sector collaborations as the Midtown Exchange, Chicago Avenue’s medical corridor, affordable housing construction, and the Franklin Avenue Light Rail Transit Station. Each of these projects included program components to improve economic conditions for Phillips residents, a neighborhood of historic ethnic diversity and high poverty rates. Despite this activity in the surrounding community, Native Americans continue to experience socio-economic disparity and low high school graduation rates compared to other populations. This situation suggests that neighborhood development has passed by Franklin Avenue’s Native American community, leaving them rooted in a vicious circle of service dependency and social welfare. Responding to these concerns, Hennepin County sponsored the American Indian Families Project (AIFP) in 2002, a multi-year endeavor initiated at the request of the county’s American Indian community and the Metropolitan Urban Indian Directors. Under the leadership of Justin Kii 4 American Indian Cultural Corridor: Vision, Strategies and Actions Huenemann, AIFP published a series of reports analyzing quality of life indicators for Native American families in Hennepin County. Emerging out of the AIFP project, Huenemann helped launch the non- profit Native American Community Development Institute (NACDI) in 2007. NACDI’s mission is “to partner with American Indian communities to build and execute 21st century community development strategies” that will preserve and strengthen community assets among Native American groups. Located in the Phillips Neighborhood, NACDI hopes to renew American Indian economic activity and develop new opportunities for wealth generation along Franklin Avenue that directly improve quality of life among Native Americans. Project Overview Economists have long debated whether the focus of economic development policy should be on “place prosperity” versus “people prosperity” (Winnick, 1966). In the case of Native Americans in Phillips, several placed-based efforts have already been implemented in the neighborhood. While these have influenced positive outcomes in the community as a whole, they have had little direct impact on improving quality of life for Native American people. Bartik offers an alternative view to place-based efforts, arguing that economic development should focus on improving the lives of people in the community “as opposed to development or growth in and of itself” (2009). This philosophy supports