2023 Tribal Leaders Study: An Emergent View on Education, Tribal Sovereignty, Leadership, and Change

The 2023 Tribal Leaders qualitative study is an emergent perspective from twelve Tribal leaders on education, Tribal sovereignty, leadership, and change presented as a poster session at the 2023 NRMERA conference in Omaha, Nebraska. This conceptual paper presents a review of literature acknowledging a lack of research inclusive of the voice of Tribal leaders as well as research, particularly in the areas of Tribal-specific/Native-centered leadership models and change frameworks. The research findings are presented across the four focus areas and of note: In education, Tribal leaders indicated the need for Tribal voices to be heard, accurate American History to be taught, adequate funding to be provided, and more culturally relevant instruction provided inclusive of language and cultural teaching were among the more significant findings. In the area of Tribal sovereignty, Tribal leaders indicated that Tribal sovereignty was something they wanted. They were not convinced that Tribal sovereignty was something in reality that could be achieved and, once achieved, could be held onto. In terms of leadership, Tribal leaders indicated a preference for Servant Leadership and did not specify any specific Tribal leadership definitions, models, or frameworks. With regard to change, Tribal leaders discussed change with no specific Tribal leadership models or frameworks. The findings are discussed and interpreted through a TribalCrit lens (Brayboy, 2022), with a conclusion and next steps presented.