The Yakama Nation is located in central Washington State. Their struggles with land loss began over 150 years ago when, in 1855, the federal government pressured the Yakama to cede by treaty more than ten million acres of their ancestral homelands. In the latter half of the 1800s and early 1900s, individual tribal citizens were granted fee patent land titles, which both freed surplus reservation land for non-Indian settlement and permitted tribal citizens to sell their land to non-Indians. Faced with difficult economic choices, many tribal citizens did so.

The Osoyoos Indian Band (OIB) is located in the interior of British Columbia. They are a member community of the Okanagan Nation Alliance. The Band was formed in 1877 and is home to about 370 on-reserve band members. The goal of the OIB is to move from dependency to a sustainable economy like that that existed before contact.

When Hupacasath Chief Judith Sayers and council decided to harness the power running through their lands, the result was a best practices model of how to build a small hydro project.

The primary residence of the Haisla people is Kitamaat Village, found at the head of the Douglas Channel on British Columbia’s north coast.

In 1990, elders of the Haisla First Nation found a logging road flagged into the Kitlope Valley – the largest unlogged coastal temperate rain forest watershed in the world. Six years later, the Huchsduwachsdu Nuyem Jees / Kitlope Heritage Conservancy was designated through provincial Order-in-Council under the Environment and Land Use Act to protect the cultural and ecological values of the area. The Heritage Conservancy is collaboratively managed by the Haisla First Nation and the Province of B.C. through the Kitlope Management Committee.

Located in far north-western British Columbia, Tatshenshini-Alsek Park was one of the last areas of B.C. to be mapped. The area's earliest residents were the Tlingit and Tuchone First Nations. Today, with the park in the traditional territory of the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations (CAFN), descendants of the Tlingit and Tuchone, the CAFN play an important role in its management.

On March 22, 1993, the provincial government of Saskatchewan sent the RCMP tactical team to shut down the White Bear casino on White Bear First Nation near Carlyle citing criminal code violations. The result was a highly hostile raid where all assets and records were confiscated.

Nisga’a Nation, comprised of four communities; New Aiyansh, Gitwinksihlkw, Laxgalt’sap, and Gingolx, is located in north western B.C. In the 1890s, Nisga'a hereditary chiefs and matriarchs formed the Nisga'a Land Committee and began to aggressively pursue self-government and title to their lands.

For more than 15 years, the lack of home care services relevant for First Nations and Inuit communities has been identified as a significant health and social issue. In response to this need, a Joint Health Canada / Department of Indian and Northern Affairs (DIAND) / First Nations / Inuit working group was formed to develop a framework for a comprehensive home care program.

Traditional Apache culture is based on an intimate spiritual connection with and knowledge of the natural world. Apache elders believe that connection is necessary to respect one’s self, other humans and all living things. The San Carlos Apache elders living in San Carlos in northern Arizona have seen the changes in their community that are particularly worrisome.

Situated in southern Yukon, the Teslin Tlingit people have a clan system of government. That clan system of government operated for years prior to the imposition of the Indian Act. Through the Indian Act, traditional governance was separated from formal decision making power and authority. Then in the early 1990s, following 20 years of negotiation, federal and territorial settlement legislation provided the basis for the creation and ratification of the Teslin Tlingit Council Final and Self-Government Agreements. Through these agreements the Teslin Tlingit people once again were able to recognize the power and authority of their clan based government.

In 2002, the City of Powell River, on the Sunshine Coast in south-western B.C., began construction on a seawalk park. The project inadvertently destroyed or disturbed significant cultural sites of Sliammon First Nation including petroglyphs and shell middens. Deeply concerned by the site impact and the lack of consultation with their nation, then Chief L. Maynard Harry and respected Elder Norm Gallagher confronted city officials.

The Squamish First Nation and the Lil'wat First Nation are both located in south western B.C. and have an area of overlapping traditional territory that extends into the lands around the resort community of Whistler. Although they are two distinct First Nations with different culture and social relationships, they have a history of respectful co-existence as neighbours. Mindful of the historic precedence of shared lands and the overlapping interests in land stewardship, the Lil'wat Nation met with the Squamish Nation in 1999 to discuss land use and planning in areas of traditional territory overlap. This signalled a move away from competition between neighbouring First Nations for recognition and scarce resources and toward a relationship that could leverage the power of working together on mutual objectives.

First Nations need qualified financial managers to be successful. In most communities the senior financial managers are not community members. Responding to this challenge, a pilot project was launched in Fort Frances, Ontario in 2008 designed to encourage aboriginal youth to complete high school and pursue careers in accounting. The intent is to increase financial knowledge and capacity in First Nations communities.

Like many rural tribal nations, the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate in South Dakota struggled for years to combat high levels of unemployment and widespread poverty. This changed with the establishment of the Dakota Western Bagging factory and several gaming facilities, generating rapid economic growth over the past ten to fifteen years. As a result, Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate is now the largest employer in the northeast corner of the state of South Dakota. However, while jobs are plentiful, many Oyate citizens have been unable to maintain employment and by the year 2000, the nation was experiencing a 70% employee turnover rate.

In 1995, Membertou Nation in Nova Scotia had 37 employees, a 4 million dollar budget and a 1 million dollar annual operating deficit. The community was poor with low morale and a high unemployment rate. It was then that Chief Terrance Paul decided it was time for a major change. With great determination, he and the Membertou council recruited band members that had left the reserve years prior to pursue their education and were employed across the country by companies such as Lang Michener Barristers & Solicitors, the Union of Nova Scotia Indians and other corporate and government organizations.

The Ktunaxa people are located in the Kootenay region of British Columbia. The Ktunaxa Kinbasket Tribal Council’s (KKTC) vision of sustainable development is to strive, as a self-sufficient, self-governing nation, to achieve a viable economy, to manage their lands and resources, and to support strong, healthy citizens.