Indigenous Issues in Brownfield Re- Development: a Tribal Perspective

Like blighted urban areas, indigenous nations in the U.S. often have abandoned underutilized commercial or industrial properties with potential environmental contamination within the confines of their reservations. Like urban brownfields, often contamination problems are discovered long after the responsible parties have disappeared. Financial incentives, tools, and risk-management techniques have been created in urban settings to help facilitate the redevelopment of brownfield sites. The element of tribal sovereignty and self-determination alone makes reservation settings unique. Coupled with cultural differences and historical relationships, it is clear that reservation environments need to develop approaches to brownfield redevelopment issues differently than those of urban settings. This paper explores the differences in tribal and urban redevelopment philosophies and suggests possible elements of a tribal brownfield redevelopment process.