The governance structure of most American Indian tribes was designed by the U.S. Department of the Interior in the 1930s, and tribes and experts say the systems disadvantaged tribal nations more than they helped. "These governments were not very sophisticated and were often unwieldy, with no provisions for court systems. These systems usually hampered efforts to get things done," says Dr. Stephen Cornell, faculty chairman of the University of Arizona's Native Nations Institute for Leadership, Management and Policy. The old governments also carry a legacy of colonialism that creates distrust in leadership and fosters economic dependence, Cornell says. Tribal nation building must be done by Indian people. In this article, the author describes NNI's new online education course that seeks to help tribal leaders do just that. The Institute has created an eight-course series entitled "Rebuilding Native Nations: Strategies for Governance and Development" that is designed to strengthen and improve the operations of American and Canadian Indian nations. The new online course is giving tribal nations the information they need to take control of their own governments.