Glossary
Plain definitions, no jargon.
The words that come up around this kind of software, defined in one sentence each.
- On-premises software On-premises software runs on computers the owner controls, in their own building, instead of on a company's cloud servers. For your tribe, it means your records live on your own hardware and never leave.
- Local AI Local AI is artificial intelligence that runs on the owner's own computers instead of sending data to an outside company's servers. It gives the help of modern AI without sending records out to be stored or used for training.
- Immutable audit trail An immutable audit trail is a record of every action that cannot be quietly changed or deleted. Each entry is signed and linked to the one before it, so anyone can check that the history is complete and see who did what and when.
- Data sovereignty Data sovereignty is your control over your own records: where they live, who can read them, and how they are used. It is strongest when the data stays on your own hardware, encrypted, with you holding the only keys.
- ICWA (Indian Child Welfare Act) ICWA is a federal law that gives tribes a central role in child-welfare cases involving their members, including notice and the right to intervene as a party. Tribal courts apply it alongside your own code.
- Tribal code A tribal code is the body of ordinances a tribe enacts to govern itself, covering areas like enrollment, elections, courts, land, and business. It is your own law, and good software follows it rather than a vendor's template.
- Per-capita Per-capita is a distribution of tribal revenue paid to enrolled members. Accurate per-capita depends on an accurate membership roll and attributed financial records.
- Sovereign immunity Sovereign immunity is a tribe's legal protection from being sued without its consent, a core feature of tribal sovereignty. Complete, provable records help a tribe act within and document that authority.
- Air gap An air gap is a setup where a computer or system has no connection to outside networks. Air-gap-capable software keeps working with the internet fully disconnected, which is the strongest form of data isolation.
- Encryption at rest Encryption at rest means the stored data is locked so it cannot be read without the key, even by someone who takes the drive. It protects records on your machines and in backups.
- CTAS CTAS, the Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation, is a federal funding process that bundles several tribal justice and public-safety grant programs into one application. Complete, attributed records make CTAS reporting straightforward.
- Guardianship Guardianship is a court arrangement that gives one person legal authority to care for another, often a child or an elder. It carries strict deadlines, extension limits, and annual reporting, which is why it is the hardest workflow to track by hand.