ABSTRACT
In 2007 the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was adopted, and the 46 articles of the Declaration set forth individual and collective Indigenous rights (see p. 178, “Appendix”). However, the document was not easily applied to business practices involving Indigenous peoples. In 2010 a new project was initiated to promote better business engagement with Indigenous peoples. This culminated in the 2013 publication of the Business Reference Guide to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (the “Guide”). The Guide offers advice and examples to develop and promote understanding, respect, and support of the rights of Indigenous peoples during business activities. To help attune our future managers to Indigenous perspectives, we suggest including in business education issues that are particularly focused on Indigenous cultural issues. Moreover, we believe that business educators should be looking at local, national, and international Indigenous business stories as practical learning objects for business decision-makers. Herein we discuss a current business practice that has evolved over time and consider how decisions about the future implicitly create a paradox between the organization and its customer. Specifically, we discuss Pendleton’s “Native American Inspired” line of products.
