'We get things done'
Native American Bank continues to grow after 20 years of serving Indian Country
By Kevin Abourezk
A bank established by famed Native banker, rancher and activist
Elouise Cobell is preparing for the next step in its evolution.
The
Native American Bank, located in downtown Denver, Colorado, is planning to move to a new building next year that it has purchased. The bank – the only Native-owned nationwide financial institution – currently rents the 24th floor in a high-rise.
Its new single-story, 14,000-square-foot headquarters will nearly double its current size and provide the bank its first branch bank in Colorado.
“We think it’s in a great area, one that needs more banking services,” said Tom Ogaard, president and CEO of the Native American Bank. “It’s got all of the things we think are going to help us grow and give us an identity.”
The Native American Bank has its origins in Browning, Montana, where Cobell helped establish the Blackfeet National Bank in 1987. Cobell – who later became the lead plaintiff in Cobell v. Salazar, the groundbreaking class-action lawsuit that led to the
$3.4 billion Cobell settlement – understood her reservation’s need for banking services that were tailored for Native people.
The late Elouise Cobell meets President Barack Obama at the White House on December 8, 2010. Cobell, a citizen of the Blackfeet Nation, was the lead plaintiff in the landmark Indian trust fund lawsuit, which led to a $3.8 billion settlement with the federal government. Her efforts to improve financial services in her community led to the establishment of the Native American Bank. Photo
by Pete Souza / White House
Soon after the founding of the Blackfeet National Bank, other tribes began petitioning the Blackfeet Nation to provide them with banking services. However, the small bank lacked the resources to serve other tribes.
So in 1998, a group of tribes decided to pool their resources to establish a national bank serving Native Americans.
Today, the Native American Bank owns the Blackfeet National Bank and has more than $100 million in assets, with nearly 95 percent of its assets made up of loans to Native institutions and individuals. Thirty-three tribes, tribal corporations, Alaska Native corporations and nonprofit organizations comprise the bank’s shareholders.
The bank is also a certified Community Development Financial Institution focused on providing financial services for Alaska Native and Native American communities.
Tom Ogaard serves as president and CEO of the Native American Bank. Courtesy photo
“As we become more familiar and more visible within Indian Country, there seems to be more of an interest from other tribes about how they can possibly get involved,” Ogaard said. “Those are conversations we always welcome.”
The bank has become a catalyst for economic development in Indian Country, providing funding for everything from compost facilities and homes to convenience stores and restaurants from Alaska to Florida.
“The whole idea is to create jobs, sustain jobs and hopefully diversify economies wherever that may be,” Ogaard said.
The bank understands the challenges facing economic development on reservations, which often involve construction on federal trust land. Many developers and financial institutions are unwilling to invest in reservation projects because they often can’t get mortgages that help them protect their investments, Ogaard said.
The Native American Bank currently rents the 24th floor in this high-rise in downtown Denver but is planning to move into a building it purchased next year. Courtesy photo
The Native American Bank knows how to invest in such projects while protecting its investment, even without the use of mortgages, Ogaard said.
“If it’s a real estate project, that is an area that very few banks have expertise in, and that is one area that we do,” he said. “We’re very comfortable working on trust land.”
The Native American Bank also understands the historical challenges of working with Native people, who often are reluctant to invest their money in non-Native institutions, Ogaard said. Many reservations lack any banks or financial institutions of any kind, he said.
The Native American Bank addresses this reluctance by attempting to educate its customers about banking services, primarily through interactive vignettes on its website.
He said the bank’s willingness to serve a somewhat challenging population offers lessons for promoting growth in underserved communities.
“It is rewarding I think for us to be able to do the kind of projects we do, though I will say it takes more time in Indian Country, but we’re patient. Most of our borrowers are patient,” he said.
“At the end of the day, we get things done.”
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