Miriam Jorgensen, a settler scholar, is a Senior Researcher at the University of Arizona Native Nations Institute. At the University of Arizona, she holds the additional titles of Research Scientist at the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy, Affiliate Faculty at the James E. Rogers College of Law, and Affiliate Faculty in the Graduate Interdisciplinary Program in American Indian Studies. Jorgensen’s work on Indigenous governance and economic development—in the United States, Canada, and Australia—has addressed issues as wide-ranging as policing and justice systems, child welfare policy, natural-resource management, cultural stewardship, land back, tribal enterprises, housing, financial education, asset building, and philanthropy.

She is an editor and co-author of Creating Private Sector Economies in Native America: Sustainable Development through Entrepreneurship (Cambridge University Press 2019), Indigenous Justice: New Tools, Approaches and Spaces (Palgrave Macmillan 2018), and Rebuilding Native Nations: Strategies for Governance and Development (University of Arizona Press 2007); co-author of Structuring Sovereignty: Constitutions of Native Nations (UCLA AIS Press 2014) and The State of the Native Nations: Conditions under US Policies of Self-Determination (Oxford University Press 2008); lead author of the U.S. Treasury Department’s two-part Access to Credit and Capital in Native Communities reports (2016, 2017); lead author of Sustaining and Advancing Indigenous Cultures: Field Surveys and Summits, 2021 (Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums 2022); and provided report-writing support to both the Indian Law and Order Commission (2011-2012) and Commission on Native Children (2020-present).

Jorgensen co-founded the University of Arizona Indigenous Governance program and helps advise students pursuing the Master of Professional Studies (MPS) in Indigenous Governance degree. She also co-founded the Association for Economic Research of/by/with/for Indigenous Peoples and presently serves on the organization’s board. She has been a Visiting Scholar in law and in social work at Washington University in St. Louis, Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the University of Technology Sydney, Research Professor in the Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research at the University of Technology Sydney, and Professorial Research Fellow at the Melbourne School of Government. She received her BA in economics from Swarthmore College, MA in human sciences from the University of Oxford, and both an MPP in international development and PhD in political economics from Harvard University.

She grew up in Vermillion, South Dakota, on the territory of the Dakota, Lakota, and Omaha peoples and currently resides in St. Louis, Missouri, on the homelands of the Osage Nation, Missouria, Illinois Confederacy, and the many other tribes that met and lived at the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers.

Publications

Henson, Eric C., Miriam R. Jorgensen, Joseph P. Kalt, and Isabelle G. Leonaitis. 2021. Policy Brief: Assessing the U.S. Treasury Department’s Allocations of Funding for Tribal Governments under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. Cambridge and Tucson: Harvard Project for American Indian Economic Development and Native Nations Institute.

Henson, Eric, Megan Hill, Miriam R. Jorgensen, and Joseph Kalt. 2021. Policy Brief: Recommendations for Allocation and Administration of American Rescue Plan Act Funding for American Indian Tribal Governments. Cambridge and Tucson: Harvard Project for American Indian Economic Development and Native Nations Institute.

Hiraldo, Danielle, Stephanie Russo Carroll, Dominique M. David-Chavez, Mary Beth Jäger, and Miriam Jorgensen. 2020. "Native Nation Rebuilding for Tribal Research and Data Governance." NNI Policy Brief Series. Tucson: Native Nations Institute, University of Arizona.

Henson, Eric C., Megan M. Hill, Miriam R. Jorgensen, Joseph P. Kalt. July 24, 2020. Policy Brief: Federal COVID‐19 Response Funding for Tribal Governments: Lessons from the CARES Act. Cambridge and Tucson: Harvard Project for American Indian Economic Development and Native Nations Institute.

Henson, Eric C., Megan M. Hill, Miriam R. Jorgensen, Joseph P. Kalt. July 24, 2020. Policy Brief: Emerging Stronger than Before: Guidelines for the Federal Role in American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes’ Recovery from the COVID‐19 Pandemic. Cambridge and Tucson: Harvard Project for American Indian Economic Development and Native Nations Institute.

Akee, Randall K.Q., Eric C. Henson, Miriam R. Jorgensen, Joseph P. Kalt. May 18, 2020. Policy Brief: Proposal for a Fair and Feasible Formula for the Allocation of CARES Act COVID‐19 Relief Funds to American Indian and Alaska Native Tribal Governments. Cambridge and Tucson: Harvard Project for American Indian Economic Development and Native Nations Institute.

Akee, Randall K.Q., Eric C. Henson, Miriam R. Jorgensen, Joseph P. Kalt. May 18, 2020. Policy Brief: The Need for a Significant Allocation of COVID‐19 Response Funds to American Indian Nations. Cambridge and Tucson: Harvard Project for American Indian Economic Development and Native Nations Institute.

Akee, Randall K.Q. Eric C. Henson, Miriam R. Jorgensen, Joseph P. Kalt. May 18, 2020. Policy Brief: Dissecting the US Treasury Department’s Round 1 Allocations of CARES Act COVID‐19 Relief Funding for Tribal Governments.Cambridge and Tucson: Harvard Project for American Indian Economic Development and Native Nations Institute.

Cornell, S. E., & Jorgensen, M. (2019). What are the Limits of Social Inclusion? Indigenous Peoples and Indigenous Governance in Canada and the United States. American Review of Canadian Studies, 49(2), 283-300. https://doi.org/10.1080/02722011.2019.1613790

Hendry, J., Tatum, M.L., Jorgensen, M., Howard-Wagner, D. Indigenous Justice: New Tools, Approaches, and Spaces.(Eds.). Palgrave Macmillan, 2018. Print.

Jorgensen, Miriam and Miskodagaaginkwe Beaudrie. 2017. Progressing Issues of Social Importance Through the Work of Indigenous Artists: A Social Impact Evaluation of the Native Arts & Cultures Foundation’s Pilot Community Inspiration Program. Tucson and Vancouver: Native Nations Institute and Native Arts and Cultures Foundation, Inc.

Jorgensen, M. and Randall K.Q. Akee. (2017). Access to Capital and Credit in Native Communities: A Data Review,digital version. Tucson, AZ: Native Nations Institute.

Jorgensen, M. (2016). Access to Capital and Credit in Native Communities, digital version. Tucson, AZ: Native Nations Institute.

Starks, Rachel Rose, Adrian T. Smith, Mary Beth Jäger, Miriam Jorgensen, and Stephen Cornell. (2016). "Tribal Child Welfare Codes as Sovereignty in Action. [Conference Edition]." Paper presented at the 2016 National Indian Child Welfare Association Annual Meeting, St. Paul, MN, April 4-6, 2016. Portland, OR: National Indian Child Welfare Association; Tucson, AZ: Native Nations Institute.

Starks, R., & Jorgensen, M. (2016). Land and Indigenous business development in Canada. In K. G. Brown, M. B. Doucette, & J. E. Tulk (Eds.). Indigenous Business in Canada: Principles and Practices. Sydney, Nova Scotia: Cape Breton University Press.

Akee, R., Jorgensen, M., & Sunde, U. (2015). Critical junctures and economic development - evidence from the adoption of constitutions among American Indian nations. Journal of Comparative Economics, 43(4), 844-861. doi: 10.1016/j.jce.2015.08.004. 

Dolan, J., Record, I., Jorgensen, M., & Briggs, E. (2015). Honoring Nations All-Stars Profile: The Red Lake Walleye Recovery Program Red Lake Nation. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development, Harvard University. 

Jäger, M. B., Starks, R. R., Smith, A. T., & Jorgensen, M. (2015, Summer). Culture and law: Preliminary findings in a review of 100+ tribal welfare codes. The Judges' Page Newsletter. Retrieved from http://www.casaforchildren.org/site/c.mtJSJ7MPIsE/b.9299977/k.9128/Article4_Jager_Starks_Smith_Jorgensen.htm. 

Jorgensen, M., & Taylor, J. B. (2015). New paths home: The impact of four directions development corporation on Indian Island, Maine, 2001-2014. Sarasota, FL: The Taylor Policy Group. 

Rainie, S., Jorgensen, M., Cornell, S., & Arsenault, J. (2015). The changing landscape of health care provision to American Indian nations. American Indian Culture and Research Journal, 39(1), 1-24. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.17953/aicr.39.1.j1u030g668113403.

Ritsema, R., Dawson, J., Jorgensen, M., & Macdougall, B. (2015). Steering Our Own Ship?” An Assessment of Self-Determination on and Self-Governance for Community Development in Nunavut. The Northern Review, 41, 157-180. 

Akee, R., & Jorgensen, M. (2014). Property institutions and business investments on American Indian reservations. Regional Science and Urban Economics, 46, 116-125. doi: 10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2014.04.001.

Jorgensen, M. (2014). Four contemporary tensions in indigenous nation building: Challenges for leadership. In C. Voyaguer, L. Brearley, & B. Calliou (Eds.), Restorying indigenous leadership: Wise Practices in Community Development(pp. 185-213). Banff, Alberta: Banff Centre for Leadership, Management, and the Arts.

Jorgensen, M. (2014). Review of the White Earth Nation: Ratification of a Native democratic constitution. American Indian Culture and Research Journal, 38(3), 205-208. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.17953/aicr.38.3.y4wx334765270046.

Book Chapters

M Jorgensen & J Timeche. 2021. Native America x rural America: Tribal nations as key players in regional rural economies. In A Dumont & DP Davis (eds). Investing in Rural Prosperity. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, and Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Washington, DC. Pp. 107-118.

SR Carroll, S Cornell & M Jorgensen. 2021. Can a self-determination strategy improve Indigenous health care? Evidence from the United States. In D Smith, A Wighton, S Cornell & AV Delaney (eds), Developing Governance and Governing Development: International Case Studies of Indigenous Futures. Rowman Littlefield International, London. Pp. 201-222.

M Jorgensen, A Pemberton, P Brown & D Conner. 2021. The Red Lake walleye recovery project: Tribal governance for sustainable success. In D Smith, A Wighton, S Cornell & AV Delaney (eds), Developing Governance and Governing Development: International Case Studies of Indigenous Futures. Rowman Littlefield International, London. Pp. 251-270.

S Cornell, R Goldtooth, M Guerin, M Jorgensen, B Paul, R Starks, S Tetreault & A White. 2021. Making First Nation law: The Listuguj Mi’gmaq fishery. In D Smith, A Wighton, S Cornell & AV Delaney (eds), Developing Governance and Governing Development: International Case Studies of Indigenous Futures. Rowman Littlefield International, London. Pp. 271-289.

Journal articles

S Cornell & M Jorgensen.2020. Indigenous nations in post-racial America: Rethinking social inclusion. Review of Black Political Economy (Special Issue: Political Economy of Racism in “Post-Racial” America: Wealth and Health). 30 October 2020. doi.org/10.1177/0034644620966033

Non-refereed book chapters

H Figueroa, M Jorgensen & J Timeche. 2020. The Role of Tribes and Tribal Relations in Creating a More Vibrant Arizona. In Creating Vibrant Communities, the 113th Arizona Town Hall: Background Report, J Ford, K Otten & A Nelson (eds), pp 13-27. Vitalyst Health Foundation, Phoenix.

Policy papers & briefs

M Jorgensen & S Gutierrez. 2021. Native nation building: It helps rural America thrive. Community Strategies Group, Aspen Institute, Washington, DC. November.