Native Americans left waiting for relief
More than a month after the passage of legislation providing for $2 trillion in coronavirus economic relief funds, Native-American nations have yet to see a dime of the $8 billion set aside for their communities.
Some congressional members and Native-American leaders said that the US Treasury Department failed to distribute the money to 574 federally recognized Indian tribal governments in a timely manner to help them combat the novel coronavirus.
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act, was passed by the Congress on Mar 27.
By law, the US Treasury Department should have distributed the money by April 26. All states had already received the funds allocated by the act, except for the Native-American communities.
The distribution of funds to these was delayed partially because of a dispute over who should receive them.
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin had announced that forprofit Alaska Native corporations are eligible to receive the funds along with tribes.
On April 17, five tribes filed a lawsuit against the Treasury Department, alleging that its classification of private and for-profit Alaska Native corporations as “tribal governments” for the sake of making payments is illegal.
Late last month, a federal judge granted a temporary restraining order to halt the distribution of coronavirus relief payments to Alaska Native corporations until a final decision is issued in the case.
“We, as the First Americans, are once again having to fight for what is rightfully ours,” President Jonathan Nez of the Navajo Nation said on Thursday, according to a report by indianz.com.
Eight representatives, including Deb Haaland of New Mexico, co-chair of the Congressional Native American Caucus, signed a letter on April 29 to press Mnuchin and Interior Secretary David Bernhardt to distribute the money now because lives are at stake.
“As you are aware, the detrimental impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have had a disproportionate healthcare and economic impact on federally recognized tribes due a chronic lack of essential resources,” the letter stated.
Other congressional members, such as Nancy Pelosi and Elizabeth Warren, also called for prompt distribution of the relief funds to the tribes so that the governments could have resources to combat the spread of coronavirus.
American Indian Tribal communities are among the most vulnerable to the devastating spread of the coronavirus, according to the Huffington Post. They are often in remote parts of the country, where it’s tough to quickly disseminate resources and where families live in small homes shared with elderly family members who are particularly at risk.
The Indian Health Service, which provides healthcare to nearly 3 million Native Americans, reported more than 3,100 confirmed coronavirus cases among federally recognized national tribes as of the end of April.