First Nations are assembled in Saskatoon today for the opening session of an economic development conference hosted by the FSIN.
This morning the co-author of an economic report that charted the issue of economic space for First Nations took the floor.
Nathan Elliot says he thinks some bands within the province, notabaly the Lac La Ronge Indian Band and Onion Lake Cree Nation are forging ahead in economic development.
He says separating business from politics has been a key ingredient to that success.
Meantime a businessman from the Cherokee First Nation says he thinks First Nations in Canada are a sleeping giant that need to awaken economically.
Gary “Litefoot” Davis is perhaps best known for starring in the move “The Indian In the Cupboard.”
But now he spends his days heading up for the National Centre for American Indian Enterprise Development.
On Thursday, he will speak at the White House about the future of First Nations business.
He says he feels too many bands are merely concentrating on opportunities within their own borders and not recognizing the vast opportunities that lay in other countries.
For instance he says he doesn’t see why First Nations can’t export products to China directly.
Entrepreneurs should also be charging forward but instead he says they’re relying on business opportunities to come to them.
Davis says he recently talked with a U.S. Senator who told him First Nations in America could be the 55th wealthiest country in the world if only they would recognize their vast economic potential.
Davis says the problem is that too many First Nations are asleep economically and they don’t even know it.