Treasury Begins Disbursing $4.8B To Native American Tribes

The U.S. Treasury announced Tuesday it has begun distributing $4.8 billion in relief funding to Native American tribal governments across the country, $600 million of which is set to go to the Navajo Nation.

In a news release, the Treasury said it is distributing 60 percent of its $8 billion package to native tribes based on population data used in distributing the Indian Housing Block Grant. The data is based on U.S. Census figures.

The remaining 40 percent of the package is to be distributed at a later date "based on the total number of persons employed by the Indian tribe and any tribally-owned entity," the Treasury stated in its release. The distribution will also be based on the expenses tribes incur in fighting the COVID-19 virus.

The full $8 billion package was approved in March as part of the CARES Act, which came with a distribution deadline of April 26. Reuters reports a contingent of tribal governments — including that of the Navajo Tribe that spans Arizona, New Mexico and Utah — went on to sue the Treasury when it failed to meet the deadline.

Vox reports while one suit addresses the Treasury Department's delay in distributing funds, another implores the Treasury to withhold money originally allocated to the for-profit Alaska Native Corporations (ANCs).

According to the Vox report, a federal judge on Monday ruled that the ANCs do not meet the CARES Act's definition of a "tribal government."

Yet, the Treasury said Tuesday the money allocated for the ANCs "will be held back until pending litigation relating to their eligibility is resolved."

Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez told AZFamily.com the Navajo Nation, and other tribes, will suffer if funds are allocated to the ANCs.

"The impact on the Navajo Nation will be significant because of the Nation's size, population and the already-disparate impact of COVID-19 on the Nation," he told the publication.

In the release, the Treasury went on to say it is working to pay out the remaining amounts as quickly as possible and is working to ensure they are made in a "fair and appropriate manner" starting Tuesday.

Amid the Treasury's delay in distributing funds, donors on GoFundMe raised more than $2 million for Navajo and Hopi Families as of Tuesday evening.

The GoFundMe was started on behalf of the Rural Utah Project Education Fund. According to a description posted on the fundraising website, the money raised will be used to provide food, water and personal protective equipment to people living in reservations.

In an update posted to GoFundMe, fundraising organizers wrote that several recent donations have come from an unexpected source: Ireland.

During the Irish Great Famine, which began in 1845, the Choctaw Nation made a donation of $170 to help the Irish, organizers wrote. That amount would be worth more than $5,000 today.

"The favor is returned through generous donations from the Irish people to the Navajo Nation during our time of crisis," organizers wrote. "A message from Irish donor, Pat Hayes, sent from Ireland across the ocean: 'From Ireland, 170 years later, the favour is returned! To our Native American brothers and sisters in your moment of hardship.'"

But online donors aren't the only ones working to help the coronavirus-stricken Native American population.

Actor and Native Hawaiian Jason Momoa recently donated 28 pallets of canned water to the Navajo and Hopi Families COVID-19 relief effort.

"Access to water is a human right that has been denied our people for far too long,” Janene Yazzie, New Mexico Lead of Navajo and Hopi Families COVID-19 Relief, said in a statement. “Now we are dealing with the repercussions of that, and it’s costing the lives of our precious loved ones. As we grapple with this epidemic, we will not lose sight of the need to have this basic human right fulfilled and our responsibility to protect our sacred waters for food sovereignty and water security for future generations."

On Sunday, the Navajo Nation reported a total of 2,373 cases of the new coronavirus and 73 deaths resulting from it, the New York Times reported. According to the publication, the tribal nation has a rate of 46 deaths per 100,000 people, outpacing every U.S. state in coronavirus deaths except for New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts.

In a post to GoFundMe, organizers wrote: "The heartache is real. We have lost so many of our sacred Navajo elders and youth to COVID-19. It is truly devastating. And a dark time in history for our Nation. In moments like these, we are so grateful for the love and support we have received from all around the world. "