I think you have some good ideas here Conrad and I don't disagree with the idea that these models are not necessarily in contradiction and could be additive. The major contrast from my perspective is the idea that to person living in the United States today, for the most part, you're on your own to meet your basic needs. For a person living at Siksika, the community is always supporting you in meeting your needs. Ryan Heavy Head, a luminary Blackfoot researcher who writes and lectures on the Blackfoot influence on the Siksika, talks about how the first week of Maslow's visit to Siksika, he witnessed a Sundance and a Giveaway ceremony. In this ceremony, particularly the members of the tribe who had accumulated the most possessions piled them up. Then, for all the families who needed blankets, pots, foodstuffs, clothing, etc., these were given away until the wealthiest members had no possessions left. When Maslow later asked Blackfoot people who was the richest person in the tribe, they indicated those who had given away most of their possessions for others.

I haven't read your whole post yet, but the summary offered at the top would, I think, absolutely square with this concept: our community equips you from the start to take care of your basic needs. That relives a tremendous amount of stress and anxiety and becomes part of what equips you to act in service of others and of expressing your purpose. In this way the Blackfeet do NOT ignore the meeting of basic needs. They see it as one of the most important practices and responsibilities of the tribe and of leadership.

I'm excited to read the rest of your post, and I think it would be very exciting if you indeed ran for office one day. : )