"These are very hands-on courses," Brunsch says. "Most of them are three weeks long, and we also do one-on-one coaching. Because transportation is an issue, we usually go to them."

Building A Stronger Foundation
Brunsch, a seasoned credit union loan officer and branch manager before she came home to Pine Ridge in 2008 to join Lakota Funds, is a huge fan of NCUA policies. "They do everything by the book," she says, "and today we are running Lakota Funds just like any insured institution."

But, she says, there is little understanding on the reservation regarding how credit works or what bad credit can do to somebody.

For many tribal members, checks from the federal government for earned income tax credits can amount to up to one-third their annual income.

So, in the absence of any other financial institutions on the reservation, Lakota Funds has developed consumer programs to help tribal members build credit and wealth:

* Through its individual development accounts, or IDAs, it matches savings three-to-one after six months. Funds must be used to purchase wealth-building assets--a house, education, or to start or expand a business.

* Child development accounts, or CDAs, are matched savings accounts that allow kids starting in kindergarten to grow up knowing they have savings accounts in their own name, coupled with financial literacy/awareness for the whole family.

* Credit builder loans up to $2,500 accompanied by financial literacy to allow potential clients that don't qualify for loans due to bad credit scores to pay off bad debts.

* Asset protection (or predatory protection) loans to help tribal members avoid refund anticipation loans and their hefty $700 fees at Christmas time. Tax refunds for tribal members amounted to $453,000 in 2011, Brunsch says. "When that refund comes," she says, "they can now automatically deposit it in the IDA, and in as little as six months, triple their money."

Native Control Over Own Assets
Lakota Funds has worked for three years to get an NCUA charter--something difficult to achieve--for the Lakota Federal Credit Union. Brunsch expects it to be live in early August, and as that happens the credit union will take over many of the fund's consumer programs.