"The article discusses development of partnerships by mining companies with indigenous people. Several factors have led the international mining sector to develop partnerships with indigenous people. Some of them include growth in acceptance of the Equator Principles, a benchmark for determining risk in project financing, and development of the United Nations Global Compact, an initiative to increase the commitment of business enterprises to human rights, labor standards and anti-corruption.
"Founded by Professors Stephen Cornell and Joseph P. Kalt at Harvard University in 1987, The Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development (The Harvard Project) aims to understand and foster the conditions under which sustained, self-determined, social and economic development may be achieved among American Indian nations. The project has become something of a benchmark for current discussion of First Nations economic development.