Justices to hear case on relief funds for tribes
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case that centers on who gets a share of $8 billion in federal coronavirus relief for Native American tribes.
Lower courts split on whether Alaska Native corporations, which own most Native land in the state under a 1971 settlement, should be in the mix. The U.S. Treasury Department sought review from the high court after a federal appeals court ruled in September that the corporations aren’t eligible.
The Treasury Department said if the decision stands, the corporations will lose out on “hundreds of millions of dollars” in funding and be deprived of their ability to help Alaska Natives when it comes to health care, education and economic well-being.
The Supreme Court included the case on its order list Friday. The key question is whether the corporations are considered “tribes” under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act.
The case has required judges, attorneys, Native American tribes and the Alaska corporations to pick apart language of the act, congressional intent and a 1975 federal law meant to strengthen tribes’ ability to govern themselves.
More than a dozen Native American tribes sued the Treasury Department last year to try to keep the money out of the hands of the corporations. They argued it should go only to the 574 tribes that have a government-to-government relationship with the United States.
Most of the money, except for about $530 million, has been distributed to Native American governments, according to court documents. Tribes initially had until Dec. 30, 2020, to spend the money, but a bill that President Donald Trump recently signed extended the deadline for another year.
“The case is also about more than money,” said Paul Spruhan, an attorney with the Navajo Nation, a plaintiff. “It is also about the role of the Alaska Native corporations as opposed to Native Villages and other actual tribal sovereigns and whether such business entities should ever have the same status of bona fide tribes.”