This means that communal values, or core cultural values, guide their actions. Leadership in Indian communities is not a separate category from other activities. Therefore, these core values must permeate the leader's life as well. These include kinship obligation, community obligation, and a sharing of wealth. A person taking on a leadership role must understand this and act in ways consistent with this understanding.
Leadership requires empowerment of the individual by the community.
The authority to act in a leadership capacity, in whatever field, is specified and sanctioned within community tradition. Not until this community-based sanctioning occurs can an individual be considered a leader. Conversely, it is not until a person has the requisite leadership skills and knowledge that a community will sanction that person's leadership. The function of a NAES education is to convey tradition in whatever form it may be and to integrate and articulate the new. The NAES student learns about institution-building and rebuilding in the Indian community.