President Biden's
$1.9 trillion relief package provides $31 billion for tribal nations
and Indigenous people to address longstanding problems like poor
health care.
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A vaccination site on
the Lummi Reservation near Bellingham, Wash., in December.
The stimulus package could help the country's Indigenous peoples
battle the coronavirus and distribute vaccines.Credit...Elaine
Thompson/Associated Press
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Washington After a year that provided stark new evidence
of how racial inequities and a lack of federal funding had left
tribal communities and Indigenous people especially vulnerable to
crises like the pandemic, President Biden and Democrats in Congress
are seeking to address those longstanding issues with a huge infusion
of federal aid.
The $1.9 trillion stimulus package signed into law last week by
Mr. Biden contains more than $31 billion for tribal governments
and other federal programs to help Native populations, a record
level of assistance intended to help bolster health care and a variety
of other services in some of the nation's poorest communities.
The money is a crucial plank of Mr. Biden's vow to address racial
and economic inequities and is a potentially transformative lifeline
for tribes, who were among the hardest hit by the spread of the
coronavirus.
It is also a high-profile step toward more equitable treatment
after centuries of treaty violations and failures by the federal
government to live up to its obligations. Mr. Biden signed the law
last Thursday, and on Monday the Senate confirmed Deb Haaland, who
had been representing New Mexico in the House, as interior secretary,
the first
Native American woman to serve in the cabinet.
The new legislation, passed
without a single Republican vote, allocates $20 billion to tribal
governments. It also includes more than $6 billion for the Indian
Health Service and other Native American health systems, including
a $20 million fund for Native Hawaiians, as well as $1.2 billion
for housing and more than $1.1 billion for primary, secondary and
higher education programs.
The new money comes on top of $8 billion allocated to tribal governments
by Congress last March in the
$2.2 trillion stimulus law, and additional funding for tribal
health and education services in other relief legislation passed
last year.
"Our promise to them has always been on any of these issues
they will have a seat at the table," Speaker Nancy Pelosi
of California said in an interview. "It's essential that we're listening
to the specific issues."
Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic majority leader,
said during a floor speech that the legislation "takes us a giant
step closer to fulfilling our trust responsibilities to all Native
Americans, Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians."
The aid comes after a year that devastated Native people across
the country, as poverty, multigenerational housing and underlying
health conditions contributed to the deadly spread of the pandemic.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found in August that
in nearly half the states, Native Americans were disproportionately
affected by the virus compared with their white counterparts.
"There's nothing more unjust than the way we currently treat Native
people in the United States with whom we have treaty interest, and
this was an opportunity for us to put our money where our mouth
is," said Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii, the chairman of the Indian
Affairs Committee. "This is quite literally the biggest down payment
in American history in the right direction, in the direction of
justice."
Lynn Malerba, the chief of the Mohegan Tribe, said the pandemic
highlighted the inequities and challenges in Native American communities.
Mr. Biden and this Congress understand those challenges much better
than the previous administration, she said.
The funding, Ms. Malerba said, is the federal government recognizing
for the first time that tribal nations participate in the national
economy and have the same responsibilities to the health and well-being
of their citizens as state and local governments.
"If you consider the Native population, depending on what estimate
you are using, is 3 to 5 percent of the population and we received
1.5 percent of funding, that's significant," Ms. Malerba said. "It's
a much greater number than the previous administration had provided
to us."
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Water being delivered
to a home with no running water near the Navajo Nation town
of Fort Defiance in Arizona. The Indian Health Service said
the money would provide better access to water.Credit...Mark
Ralston/Agence France-Presse Getty Images
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The funds will mean tribal governments will be able to partly,
or in some cases completely, offset revenue losses suffered during
the pandemic, address health care shortcomings exposed by the virus
and expand broadband access. The legislation also includes two separate
grant funds for education programs for Alaska Natives and Native
Hawaiians.
In Washington State, Leonard Forsman, the chairman of the Suquamish
Tribe, said a portion of the allotment would be used to continue
building the tribe's first health clinic within the reservation.
The tribal nation of about 1,200 enrolled members has used the services
of doctors from nearby towns.
Construction of a new building began after the tribe received its
first batch of funding from the federal government last year and
helped offset the tribe's losses in casino revenue. The recent funds
will be used to help complete the project and further stabilize
the tribe's economy.
"This will allow for those nurses who work with us, and eventually
a doctor, to have a facility where they can provide services," Mr.
Forsman said.
Included in the relief package is an injection of more than $6
billion to the Indian Health Service, which is part of the Department
of Health and Human Services. The Indian Health Service was created
to carry out the government's treaty obligations to provide health
care to American Indians and Alaskan Natives.
The health service struggled to cope with the pandemic in some
of the hardest-hit areas in the country. The agency said the new
money would help with coronavirus testing and vaccination programs
as well as with hiring more health care workers, expanding availability
to mental health services and providing better access to water,
a major issue in many tribal communities.
Beyond health care, the legislation addresses a range of other
issues important to Native communities, including $20 million to
establish an emergency Native language preservation and maintenance
grant program, as tribes race to ensure that their languages are
not lost with time and the deaths of older members during the pandemic.
"It took a lot of time just to sort of educate people about Indian
Country and the structural just the historic lack
of basics," said Senator Martin Heinrich, Democrat of New Mexico.
"There is a number of things converging, but I do think that the
conversation around race also opened the door for people to realize,
wait a minute, we never got around to getting running water and
electricity and all these things, broadband, to Indian Country
like they're not starting at the same place."
While the $2.2 trillion stimulus law approved nearly a year ago
included $8 billion for tribal governments, a portion of those funds
remains frozen in a legal battle over who is eligible. Alaska Native
corporations, for-profit businesses that serve tribal villages in
Alaska, have sought to receive some of the money, prompting a monthslong
battle over the definition of a tribal government.
The more than 200 Alaska Native corporations, which were established
in 1971 to manage almost 45 million acres as part of the Alaska
Native Claims Settlement Act, were the subject of lawsuits filed
by dozens of tribal governments in the lower 48 states who challenged
a Trump administration decision to allow them to receive a portion
of the funding. They argued the corporations should not be eligible
for coronavirus relief because they do not meet the definition of
government.
A federal district judge in the District of Columbia ruled in favor
of the lower 48 tribes, deeming the Alaska Native corporations ineligible
for coronavirus relief funds. Because of the legal fight, only some
subsidiaries of the Alaska Native corporations have received Paycheck
Protection Program funds, though individual tribes in Alaska are
set to get some relief through the stimulus legislation.
Representatives from the Alaska Native corporations say that despite
the successes they have had getting vaccines into their communities,
many villages have been stretched to the breaking point.
"Many of our villages lack road access and over 30 Alaska Native
communities currently lack access to running water," the Alaska
Native corporations said in a joint statement. "These realities
are further exacerbated by the economic devastation Covid-19 has
brought to Alaska, along with some of the highest mortality rates
in the nation."
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The entrance for virus
testing at the Acoma-Cañoncito-Laguna hospital in Acoma
Pueblo in New Mexico. In late 2020, as coronavirus cases rose
in the state, services at the hospital were cut.Credit...Adria
Malcolm for The New York Times
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In New Mexico, the Pueblo of Acoma continues its legal battle with
the Indian Health Service over a reduction of services taking place
at the community's only hospital. In late 2020, as coronavirus cases
rose in the state and hospital beds dwindled, services at the Acoma-Cañoncito-Laguna
hospital were cut and it was
effectively reduced to a clinic.
The Pueblo of Acoma filed suit in federal court in Washington in
January, accusing the Indian Health Service of failing to provide
proper notice and details to Congress before moving to downsize
the hospital. The tribe claimed that under the Indian Health Care
Improvement Act, a year's advance notice must be given to Congress
before closing one of these facilities. The agency has stated that
it did not notify Congress about the hospital changes because it
was only a reduction of services.
In February, a federal district judge in the District of Columbia
granted a temporary restraining order to keep the federal health
agency from making deeper cuts. With the order expected to expire
on April 2, Gov. Brian D. Vallo of the Pueblo of Acoma said the
tribe was exploring ways to address the health care issue it was
facing by drawing on the new funding in the stimulus package.
"We will definitely be looking at ways to be investing the money
into a tribal initiative to establish long-term health care options
for the Acoma people, and we hope that Indian Health Service headquarters
and the Albuquerque area office will invest some of the funds they
are receiving into the A.C.L. hospital service unit," Mr. Vallo
said.
Mark Walker is the FOIA coordinator in the Washington bureau of
The New York Times. He was raised in Savannah and graduated from
Fort Valley State University. Previously, he was an investigative
reporter at the Argus Leader in South Dakota. @bymarkwalker
Emily Cochrane is a reporter in the Washington bureau, covering
Congress. She was raised in Miami and graduated from the University
of Florida. @ESCochrane
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