Any community’s ability to understand, govern, and advocate for itself is deeply tied to having access to data about itself. But current federal, state, and institutional data systems are not designed or used to support Tribal Nation sovereignty—and data that institutions and governments collect from Native American Nations is often inconsistent, incomplete, divorced from Tribal priorities, and mistrusted.

• Collaborate with Tribal Nations to collect data that represents Native American communities;
• Develop tools to provide Tribal Nations with meaningful access to data about their communities; and
• Provide support for Tribal governments to answer and contextualize their own questions.

The Data Quality Campaign would like to thank Jameson David (JD) Lopez, assistant professor for educational policy studies and practice at the University of Arizona, for his research, writing, and advisement on the contents of this brief.