Pueblos and reservations,

Conversations about rural inclusion and revitalization have become cluttered with novel ideas aimed at uplifting communities of color. While experiments in equity are plentiful, few have tangibly altered the stoic realities of their intended beneficiaries. At the core of this limited success is a willful reluctance to truly understand the context that regulates life and uneven opportunities across space and cultures. Rural minority communities unenviably reside at the intersection of good intentions and understudied identities, forced into an amalgamated monolith. Before equity and inclusion palliatives can enhance rural minority well-being, policymakers must define the meaning of two loaded terms: diversity and inclusion.

Recognizing how Indigenous groups are marginalized in mainstream socio-political and economic discourse marks the first step in this direction. This premise particularly holds for Indigenous women; their identities are repeatedly shaped by vague ideas about agency and organizational power, leading to cycles of minimization and erasure. The experiences of Native women, who are cultural guardians and economic anchors in rural communities, have been reduced to ritualistic relics or devalued. Outsiders unable to relate to Native American value systems see these women’s work as lacking substance and form. Dismissing their formidable contributions to economic development and community preservation has created missed opportunities to strategically close wealth gaps and to improve the health outcomes of economically vulnerable women. Enabling community wealth and health preserves primary sources of Native American cultural prosperity.