ASU at the Tempe campus
The American Indian Policy Institute at Arizona State University is the first program in the United States to effectively address policy and leadership challenges in Indian country. The center is a transdisciplinary effort between the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Mary Lou Fulton College of Education and the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. Its mission is two-fold: to develop practical policy options and provide technical assistance to solve long-standing and emerging problems in Indian affairs; and to prepare ASU’s American Indian students for leadership positions in their communities.
The center tackles issues through community-based research defined with the Indian nations themselves and conducted in collaboration with tribal representatives. The objective is to create tailored, workable solutions that reflect the unique circumstances in each Indian community.
The center’s location at ASU, at the center of the American Southwest, is ideal. Arizona’s 22 tribal governments control 27 percent of the land in the state, some 20 million acres. Nearly 300,000 American Indian people reside in Arizona, including many ASU alumni who have assumed positions of responsibility in their tribes.