Native Americans are less likely to be in financial fields

Oklahoma tribal nations are among the top 10 industries for state economic impact, however, Natives have the highest unbanked household rating at 16.3%, which is three times the national average.

This means that while tribes provided $15.6 billion in economic impact and 113,442 jobs in 2019, Native individuals are the least likely to use a bank or credit union, open a checking account, or of savings or to work in finance, according to a study. FDIC survey.

The Aspen Institute’s Financial Security Program (FSP) and Wells Fargo Bank have partnered to conduct a study that determines what expanding native representation can do for the financial services industry.

Dawson Her Many Horses, a member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe in South Dakota, is the managing director and head of Native American banking for Wells Fargo.

Hery Horses told the Tulsa World that Oklahoma is Wells Fargo’s largest tribal market because of the 39 federally recognized tribes that operate a multitude of businesses in the state.

He also said that in research for the study, he found that natives are less likely to work in banking because of a lack of financial education or awareness of financial career opportunities.

The study compared the lack of Natives in financial services to the lack of tribal attorneys in the 1970s.

Fifty years ago, there were only two dozen tribal attorneys, while today there are more than 2,500. Very Many Horses set out to find out how the legal field managed to bring in so much Native representation and how the financial services field could do the same.

The study found that the key to getting more Native people interested in finance is connecting with high school and college students and evoking their passion for helping their tribe, community and family grow financially.

“I didn’t choose a career as much as I chose a cause, and that was really empowering tribal nations,” said one of the study participants, a tribal attorney.

Chickasaw native Kelsey Parks serves as the consumer and product operations manager for BOK Financial in downtown Tulsa.

Parks said in an interview with the Tulsa World that mentors played a big role in her choosing a career in financial services. She received a double major from Oklahoma State University in entrepreneurship and marketing with a minor in Native American studies.

“Although I didn’t start my career with banking in mind, my entrepreneurship degree helped me realize that I wanted to focus on helping companies grow and continue to grow,” said Parks.

Her mentors from her college years are now mostly staff working for OSU’s new Sovereignty Center, which provides additional materials and courses for students and the public to learn about tribal law and other topics related to Native sovereignty.

Having financial literacy and a healthy relationship with banking is a form of individual sovereignty for Natives and a form of tribal sovereignty for tribal entities, Parks said.

“Banking is a fundamental part of everyone’s life, so having access to it and having access to continuing financial education – whether it’s saving, budgeting or investing – is a great way to continue to grow individuality and independence, especially for tribal citizens,” she said.

BOK Financial has a team focused on Native American banking, providing specialty banking and lending services for tribes and tribal citizens.

Hery Horses said the research study indicated that the more Native bankers there are at a financial institution, the more likely it is to have services that are important to those tribes.

“We have a lot of programs at BOK that help tribal businesses and individuals,” Parks said. “Whether we’re helping a tribal business client with access to capital or helping an individual get a mortgage, we’re here to help. There are so many native-specific options, it’s encouraging to know that our team can teach people about these options.”

BOK serves 60 tribal nations throughout the United States.

Parks gave an example of a tribe, which she declined to name, that came to BOK with a loan they simply couldn’t pay. Interest rates just weren’t working in their favor and “they felt like they weren’t getting anywhere with it.”

BOK was able to consolidate the tribe’s debt and provide a loan servicing option that worked better for them.

“So if one of the tribal nations wanted to get a loan for a health center, that’s something we could help facilitate. And sometimes there are specific products and terms that we can apply because it’s tribal business,” she said.

In support of tribal sovereignty, the BOK center accepts tribal ID as a valid form of identification, meaning natives do not need a driver’s license or state ID to open an account.

Parks said the goal of working with tribal communities is to build generational wealth for Native families.

The Aspen FSP and Wells Fargo study suggested many actions to help Native youth find interest in finance, including posting flyers in Native community centers.

Parks also said she is proud that BOK is sending a team of financial services staff to schools, including high schools with large Native student populations, to provide financial education as well as career information.