COVID-19 Blog Posts

Last week, we highlighted the Navajo & Hopi Families COVID-19 Relief Fund, which has now raised more than $460,000. Earlier this week, we shared this list of funds collated by Native Americans in Philanthropy who hope to connect those willing and able to donate with tribal communities in need. Today, we are happy to bring you more examples of tribal communities and organizations coming together to battle the coronavirus. 

This Urban American Indian Wishlist is sponsored by a collective of Native-based organizations in Southern Arizona who have come together to provide urban Indians and Indigenous peoples in need with groceries and other essential supplies. Due to...

Trump administration revokes reservation status for Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe amid coronavirus crisis (April 2, 2020) 

The Trump administration revoked the reservation status of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe in Massachusetts last Friday. The Interior Department's order removes the 321 acres of land out of trust status, abolishing the Tribe’s ability to govern on its land. This process has been done only one other time since the Termination Era of the 1950s and 60s. Of course, Indian Country took note of the timing of this decision, as reservations shut down amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Some worry it could signal what’s to come for other tribes. Massachusetts Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey...

Funding appropriated specifically for payments to tribes cannot yet be distributed because criteria and mechanisms for distribution must first be developed. The Administration is now seeking tribal input to help them determine how tribes should receive federal aid. 

The $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act sets aside $150 billion for emergency relief payments to state, tribal, and local governments in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and creates the Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF or the Fund) to manage the financial distributions. 

CRF funding will cover necessary costs that were: 1) “incurred due to the public health emergency;” 2) not accounted for in the state or local government’s most...

Federal Emergency Relief Spending: How Is It Affecting Tribes and How Are Tribes Responding?

Three major Acts of Congress have passed into law this month to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. With each proposal, emergency spending packages grow exponentially larger. Below are summaries of how the legislation affects tribes and how tribes are responding. 

Phase I

H.R. 6074 – Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2020 

• Signed into law March 6, 2020 

• Total spending: $8.3 billion 

• Includes $40 million for tribes, but unclear on how funding will be delivered from the CDC to tribes

• Congress.gov Public Law Text 

• House Appropriations Summary 

The act is aimed primarily as bolstering the medical capacity of the...