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4.	Circle of Development
	The Circle of Development is an example of Native North American thinking on development, grounded in centuries of cultural evolution within the wider ecological environment. The model lays out the dimensions of SD as seen by the Fredericksburg, Virginia-based First Nations Development Institute (FNDI), a prominent Native American community development organization in the USA. Like the Barometer of Sustainability (DI #1), the circle is holistic and broad-ranging, going well beyond basic measures of material prosperity. At its centre lie individuals, surrounded by ever-wider circles representing larger groupings - projects, tribes or communities, nations, and ultimately ecology or nature itself. The circle brings home the fact that people are not divorced from nature but key actors in it. The environment is all-encompassing. The model is defined by four main elements - Control of Assets, Personal Efficacy, Kinship (which, for many non-native people, corresponds to the Family or Household) and Spirituality. The spaces between these main elements contain twelve smaller elements. The list follows: trade & exchange; income; productivity skills; vibrant initiative; responsibility & consequences; health & safety; political & civic participation; social respect; cultural integrity; choices & vision; hope & future orientation, and environmental balance. Of course, the strength of any model lies not so much in its intellectual construction as its ultimate usefulness. It is here that the Circle has gained a strong following in native communities. Elements like 'control of assets', 'productivity skills' and 'vibrant initiative' emphasize individual and community responsibility, and are credited with helping Native American communities break free from an unhealthy economic and financial dependence on government support programs. With the help of the FNDI, for instance, the Umatilla Indians of Oregon have regained control of traditional lands, while the Eagle Staff Fund is helping to finance Native-American-devised-and-controlled development projects throughout the USA. The Circle model was devised as a general guide or framework for personal and community development, not as an absolute and inflexible prescription to be followed without fail. Users are encouraged to set their own goals for each of the sixteen elements and even to modify the circle as needed in defining their own paths. As Native Americans have demonstrated, the Circle offers a useful vision for operationalizing and achieving sustainable development in their communities. What do these experiences hold for others? Beyond using the Circle for other development efforts, decision-makers everywhere stand to benefit from appreciating the clear parallels that can exist between ancient sets of cultural beliefs and modern models of SD. [Native-American model for SD] .
	For more information on the Circle of Development, contact: First Nations Development Institute The Stores Building 11917 Main Street Fredericksburg, VA 22408 Telephone: 1-540-371-5615 Fax: 1-540-371-3505
	elements of development n.the sixteen points of the Native American Circle of Development
	Clarkson, Linda, Morrissette, Vern and Gabriel Régallet. Our Responsibility to the Seventh Generation: Indigenous Peoples and Sustainable Development. Winnipeg. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 1992. 88p
Virtual Ideas	Lots of sources on Indigenous knowledge and initiatives. Native Links Sources