I mean the paper application could be intimidating, but it's literally the same questions that are online that are on the application. Take care of each other, Thank you greatly. Payments to tribal governments were determined by the Secretary of the Treasury in consultation with the Secretary of the Interior and American Indian and Alaska Native tribes. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. Technical Bulletins. Allison Jordan is a special assistant for Gun Violence Prevention at the Center for American Progress. Limited health services, broken infrastructure, and above-average rates of immunocompromising diseases all increase the vulnerability of AI/AN populations to the outbreak.4 In addition, many tribes also face the brunt of the economic downturn as their lifeblood enterprises in gaming and hospitality are closed for business during the pandemic. The Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) of Bandung Regency reported that as many as 16,887 families or 59,819 people were affected by the flood (as of 25 March (1930 HRS UTC+7)). Nevertheless, funding for AI/AN programs has remained stagnant since 2003, creating a civil rights crisis in which the AI/AN poverty rate is twice the national average and the unemployment rate on some reservations stood at 80 percent even before the onset of COVID-19.21 Due to the land-trust relationship with the federal government that ensures tribal lands remain in tribal ownership, most tribes have no tax base and largely derive revenue from their businesses.22 Now, lockdowns and stay-at-home orders have cut off critical revenue streams such as the $32.8 billion tribal casino industry, leaving tribes unable to fund law enforcement, education, health care, and other critical services. dataLayer.push({"event": "signup_submit", "form_detail":"enSubscribeFooter"}); Data . Description of original award (Fiscal Year 2020, $70,674) The Coronavirus Emergency Supplemental Funding (CESF) Program allows States, U.S. Was this page helpful? As the United States hits its goal of 70 percent vaccinations among those eligible, the Oglala Sioux Tribe is still working to get shots in arms. 116-260 (Dec . Tribal President Kevin Killer says the tribe . There is an immediate need for the federal government to provide stopgap solutions such as clean drinking water and hand sanitizer supplies in some tribal communities. BPBD-Bandung also established a refugee tent and continues to coordinate with respective evacuation centres. Moreover, AI/AN communities stand to lose the most from the ecological, economic, and sociocultural effects of these decisions. National Congress of American Indians, Restoring and Retaining Tribal Homelands, on file with the authors. Authors note: This report mostly uses the census-defined term American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) in keeping with the majority of AI/AN organizations. OCC Guide to CCDF Resources. Follow Us. Instead of receiving financial support, tribes are stuck in consultation with the Fed, while many banks have begun refusing tribes for the program,leaving them with enormous debt as other industries and governments receive relief.19, Trust and treaty responsibilities require that the executive branch build infrastructure to overcome these hurdles as a nation-to-nation duty. The online application process as of July 7th, has already seen 12,000 applications and thats not even counting the written applications. American Progress would like to acknowledge the many generous supporters who make our work possible. Doug Ducey (R) and the National Park Service reopened Grand Canyon National Park, which houses about 2,500 Navajo residents, without informing visitors of the Navajo Nations emergency order.52, Homelands are essential to the economic, cultural, and political survival and well-being of tribes. The American Rescue Plan checks are limited to enrolled members of the tribe, and the OST Enrollment Office says it's received about 1,300 new enrollment applications in recent weeks. The state has . ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance, Indonesia: Floods and Landslides - Jan 2021, Caritas Indonesia - Annual Program Report 2021, Indonesia: Floods in South Kalimantan - Final Report DREF n MDRID021, Immediate Aid Needed to Assist Lembata Children Survivor in the Seroja Tropical Cyclone Disaster, Disaster upon disaster for children in Indonesia as 100,000 have exams disrupted by flash floods. The Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) of Bandung Regency reported that as many as 16,887 families or 59,819 people were affected by the flood (as of 25 March (1930 HRS UTC+7)). The law directed Treasury . Medical workers take blood samples while conducting rapid tests for COVID-19 at Bandung City Hall Park in Bandung, West Java, on April 4. For example, bureaucratic holdups at the Treasury Department have denied tribes access to the full $8 billion promised to them in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. As infection rates continue to rise and tribal economies suffer, the federal governments response has been negligent and inept, exacerbating existing disparities and forcing tribes to scramble to access the relief that they are legally owed. OCHA coordinates the global emergency response to save lives and protect people in humanitarian crises. For too long, the federal government has been an aggressor when it should respect tribal sovereignty and absent when it has the responsibility to act. Coronavirus (COVID-19) has had visible impacton impoverished communities via lack of medical equipment / suppliesand loss of basic resources, including food and water. United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. L. No. } April 22, 2020. CLICK HERE FACE MASKS ARE REQUIRED. Just make sure you know your enrollment number. } The I/T/U system requires an urgent injection of funds and investment in capacity, but the likelihood of a prolonged COVID-19 pandemic lasting months or years necessitates that the federal government not renege on its duties to support the treatment of diabetes, asthma, substance abuse, and other immunocompromising diseases that are increasing the AI/AN fatality rate. $51,151. (Antara/Novrian Arbi) . COVID-19. This coming into my administration making sure that we have weekly conferences and we've been doing those Mondays or Tuesdays, depending on, said Killerschedules and stuff like that, but just covering a different things.. This report recommends the U.S. government take urgent action on seven areas of high priority: Central to the federal and state failure to support tribes during this crisis is the deliberate exclusion of AI/AN from COVID-19 demographic data collection. June 21, 2019. SDPB Radio | The trust relationship obligates the federal government to enable the socioeconomic well-being of tribes as payment for acquired lands. Kristi Noem (R) threatened the tribes with an ultimatum: Remove the checkpoints in 48 hours or face legal repercussions. Stay informed on the most pressing issues of our time. We had council members on there who are the chairs of our finance committee for one of the firstoneskind of explaining the process too, is that we had Lakota funds on there, said Killer. Despite a warning from the tribe, the owners continued to serve patrons. An official website of the United States government. Join Native America Calling at 1pm Eastern on April 23, 2020, for a discussion on COVID-19 relief promised to tribes. OGLALA SIOUX TRIBE OF PINE RIDGE INDIAN RESERVATION, FY 2020 Coronavirus Emergency Supplemental Funding Program, Sixth Amendment Strategic Planning: A Research-to-Practice Approach. Notably, the checkpoints do not shut down any nontribal roads, take less than one minute to pass through, and have allowed the Cheyenne River Sioux to trace their only positive case of COVID-19 on the reservation.48. The news drove home the mission of dozens of volunteers who arrived at six checkpoints along highways leading onto the reservation on Sunday, two days after South Dakota Gov. By, Oglala Sioux Tribe Launches Household Economic Assistance Program. The Oglala Sioux Tribe ordered a reservation-wide shutdown Monday night, after learning two residents had tested positive for COVID-19, representing the first confirmed cases among its citizens.. Tribal governments, which were mostly underfunded before COVID-19, are under incredible strain. Incident Period: Jan 20, 2020 and continuing. , an advocacy organization dedicated to improving the lives of all Americans. Oglala Tribe : USDA Foods: Omaha Nation: WIC : Rosebud Sioux Tribe: WIC : Santee Sioux Nation: WIC : Spirit Lake Tribe : USDA Foods: Standing Rock Sioux Tribe: WIC : Three Affiliated Tribes: WIC : Turtle Mountain : USDA Foods: United Tribes of Kansas and Southeast . Declaration Date: Mar 13, 2020 Quick Links. Coronavirus Relief Fund Application of the Single Audit Act to Alaska Native Corporations (7/5/2022) Coronavirus Relief Fund Tribal Extension Notice (12/23/2022) The date for use of funds was extended from December 30, 2020 to December 31, 2021, by section 1001 of Division N of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, Pub. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. If a Tribal member makes over $75,000, or over combined $120,000 with their spouse, the Tribe asks that they provide proof of hardship. Conscious of the unique vulnerabilities of Indian Country and recognizing their roots in this ugly and inexcusable history, most tribal governments have taken proactive virus containment measures that go beyond those of neighboring states and nontribal communities. South Dakota. So making sure that we find ways to keep resources in our money, especially if the individual payments are going out, how do we keep that money circulating in our own economy?". The Standing Rock Agency was established at Fort Yates in 1873. The Coronavirus Emergency Supplemental Funding (CESF) Program allows States, U.S. BPBD-Bandung has coordinated with relevant agencies to conduct data collection, evacuate the victims and distribute logistics to the affected people. if(subscribe.checkValidity()) { Information Memoranda. Covid-19 Vaccine Incentives. Measures that support rather than supplant tribal authority are the likeliest to translate into actual outcomes on the groundboth for COVID-19 response and for Indian Countrys overall well-being. This displacement denies tribal citizens access to culturally competent programs and rehabilitation resources; during a pandemic, it also denies them access to the resources their tribes deployed to contain the virus. var subscribe = document.getElementById('enSubscribeFooter'); An official website of the United States government. ) or https:// means youve safely connected to the .gov website. The Trump administration flouted this EO for years and only announced the reestablishment of the council after COVID-19 was already ravaging Indian Country. Rory Taylor, Trump administration revokes reservation status for Mashpee Wampanoag tribe amid coronavirus crisis, Vox, CAP Action, Six ways Trump is rolling back environmental protections during a public health emergency, Medium, March 31, 2020, available at, Avi Garbow, Trump administration is rushing to gut environmental protections, CNN, April 10, 2020, available at, Anna V. Smith, Tribal leaders oppose online consultations with the U.S. during the pandemic, High Country News, May 27, 2020, available at, Office of Sen. Tom Udall, Udall Leads Senate Democrats In Urging Trump Administration to Indefinitely Extend Public Comment Periods and Pause Unrelated Federal Rulemakings During COVID-19 Pandemic Emergency, Press release, April 9, 2020, available at, Hannah Grover, Should the BLM extend Chaco land use public comment periods due to coronavirus pandemic?, Farmington Daily Times, March 31, 2020, available at, Sabrina Shankman, In Alaskas North, Covid-19 Has Not Stopped the Trump Administrations Quest to Drill for Oil, Inside Climate News, April 8, 2020, available at, Rebecca Bowe, Virtual Hearings Are Silencing Indigenous Voices in Alaska, Earthjustice, May 14, 2020, available at, Barbara Moran, New EPA Rules Will Increase Air Pollution As The World Suffers A Respiratory Pandemic, WBUR, April 2, 2020, available at, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health, Asthma and American Indians/Alaskan Natives., Adrian Jawort, Genocide by Other Means: U.S. Army Slaughtered Buffalo in Plains Indian Wars, Indian Country Today, September 24, 2017, available at. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.. When the virus struck, safe water and sewage disposal services were already unavailable in 13 percent of AI/AN homes on reservations, compared with 1 percent of homes overall.41 Moreover, AI/AN families face an acute housing shortage and are eight times more likely to live in an overcrowded home, making these communities more susceptible to the virus.42 Some 35 percent of Indian Country residents lack access to broadband interneta necessary resource for remote education, tribal consultation, communications, and telehealth during the pandemic.43 Most Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) schools are underfunded and face additional barriers to switch to remote functioning while student nutritional health suffers in the absence of school meals. It is moving ahead with nonessential rulemakings and decisions such as oil and gas lease sales,58 land management plan changes, and loosening of environmental standards.59 In recognition of tribal sovereignty and the ecocultural significance of public lands and other natural resources, these decisions are required to go through tribal consultations and a public comment periodneither of which is feasible during a pandemic.60 Tribal leaders have joined a chorus of voices61from governors to mayors to county commissionersthat have called on the Trump administration to formally pause all open comment periods in light of the national crisis. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. Tribal measure: The Yerington Paiute Tribe does not have access to clean water, as their supply has been contaminated with toxins due to nonnative corporations. Oglala Sioux Tribe Covid-19 . The COVID-19 pandemics disproportionate and devastating harm to American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities is a direct and damning consequence of the U.S. governments failure to uphold its legal trust and treaty obligations to Indian Country. Cheyenne River Sioux and Oglala Sioux tribes. The Oglala Sioux Tribe went live recently with their COVID-19 Household Economic Assistance Program that will provide assistance to eligible tribal members whose households have been negatively affected by COVID-19. Also, follow Acting Administrator Pete Gaynor's activities @FEMA_Pete.The social media links provided are for reference only. If a monetary donation cannot be made, we are also accepting medical masks, gloves, etc. Adding insult to injury, a local official posted on Facebook encouraging people to join him in a sit-in protest at the diner, openly defying the reservations standing order and putting the tribes most treasured cultural gatekeepers at risk.49. Funded projects or initiatives may include, but are not limited to, overtime, equipment (including law enforcement and medical personal protective equipment), hiring, supplies (such as gloves, masks, sanitizer), training, travel expenses (particularly related to the distribution of resources to the most impacted areas), and addressing the medical needs of inmates in state, local, and tribal prisons, jails, and detention centers. Organization; . A full list of supporters is available, 4 Things Bank Regulators Can Do to Help Prevent Bank Failures, DACA Boosts Recipients Well-Being and Economic Contributions: 2022 Survey Results, 5 Things To Know About the Child Care for Working Families Act, Speaker McCarthys Debt Ceiling Proposal Would Undo Benefits of Inflation Reduction Act. Yes. Rosebud Sioux Tribe Child Care Services & Lakota Language Preservation Project P.O. They can be sent to the following address and will be given out to our community members: Rosebud Sioux Tribe Health Administration. var subscribe = document.getElementById('enSubscribeSlideUp'); We advocate for effective and principled humanitarian action by all, for all. Tribal COVID-19 Grant Recipients (OT-2004) [PDF - 139 KB] As of June 15, 2021, CDC has provided $219.5 million to tribal nations, consortia, and organizations for responding to COVID-19 across tribal communities. Because OJS does not . Coronavirus (COVID-19) has had visible impact on impoverished communities via lack of medical equipment / supplies and loss of basic resources, including food and water. Release Number. RELIEF FUND. In issuing this threat, Gov. Egregiously, tribes were required to certify their enrollment data under penalty of law, but the federal government still chose to use its flawed census figures instead.14. Many of these challenges are even more pronounced in Alaska, where remote Native communities face food shortages due to reduced air traffic and limited flexibilities to fly test samples and even patients out to health care centers. To find the latest CAP resources on the coronavirus, visit ourcoronavirus resource page. The solution is, and has always been, to defer to the tribes themselves on how best to handle social issues in a culturally competent manner. OTHER ENTITIESARE NOT AFFILIATED WITH US. var onSuccessSubmitenSubscribeSlideUp = function() { Kristi Noem (R) gave the . Information is updated every hour. The U.S. government has a duty to structure federal aid and resources in a manner that is both readily accessible to tribes and free for them to use toward the areas they deem most critical. Tribal measure: Concerned with a lack of medical services, high rates of underlying medical conditions, and a significant elder population, the Walker River Paiute Tribe in Nevada closed its borders to nonmembers and established tribal curfews. The authors would like to thank the National Congress of American Indians for their guidance and feedback as well as Lawrence Roberts and Bryan Newland for their ideas and insight. FEMA's mission is to help people before, during and after disasters.Follow FEMA online at www.fema.gov/blog, www.twitter.com/fema, www.twitter.com/FEMAespanol, https://www.facebook.com/FEMA, www.facebook.com/FEMAespanol and www.youtube.com/fema. If youre an eligible member of the Tribe, you can visitwww.ostarp.infoto submit an online application or to download applications. Recovery . Recently the Oglala Sioux Tribe passed an ordinance authorizing $2,000 to eligible enrolled tribal members regardless ofthemliving off the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The 2010 census, which overcounted non-Hispanic whites, undercounted AI/AN people by 5 percent more than any other demographic group.12 AI/AN communities are seeing the impact of this undercounting in real time, as the U.S. Department of the Treasury, relying on census-based data to determine distribution of the Coronavirus Relief Fund, listed 20 tribes as having a population of zero and therefore only eligible for $100,000 in emergency relief.13 More immediate and effective relief efforts could have happened by respecting tribal sovereignty and using the enrollment numbers of the tribes themselves. Learn more. According to a release on their . SIOUX FALLS, S.D. These tribal communities that suffer from preexisting conditions in addition to significant shortages in hospital and treatment capacity are not receiving enough test kits, personal protective equipment (PPE), and technical information during the pandemic.32 The lack of resources is part of a deep-rooted structural violation of the federal governments trust and treaty obligationsspecifically, neglect of the Indian Health Service (IHS) system. This is the foundation of the government-to-government relationship that exists between the federal government and tribal nations, which function not as racial groups but as sovereign political entities to whom the United States has a recognized trust and treaty responsibility embodied in the Constitution, treaties, and federal statutes. An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice. if(subscribe.checkValidity()) { We, at the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, have been addressing the COVID-19 pandemic since its inception in the US. Incident Period: Location: Pandeglang Sub-district. Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate (SIOUX TRIBE) $20,704. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians. Instead, federal support during the pandemic has been meager and counterproductive, structured through agencies that have no experience or familiarity with Indian Country. We are developing a Disaster Relief Fund to assist the . Before COVID-19, the IHS was already so underfunded that expenditures per patient were just one-fourth of the amount spent in the veterans health care system and one-sixth of what is spent for Medicare.33 IHS facilities are, on average, understaffed by 25 percent.34 Now, the IHS is scrambling to provide crisis services to a vulnerable and hard-hit constituency with its stretched-thin staff, inadequate facilities, and severe lack of funds. Declaration Date: She previously worked at the U.S. Department of the Interior, serving as communications director and senior adviser. Material Loss: The point of landslides is 1.5 . It is important to note thatAI/AN individuals also experience above-average rates of immunocompromising diseases and conditions such as diabetes,25 asthma,26 heart disease,27 cancer,28 lower respiratory disease,29 hypertension,30 post-traumatic stress disorder, and serious psychological distress31all of which increase the risk and lethality of COVID-19. In the face of COVID-19, infrastructural obligations should be seen as urgent, life-or-death priorities and health investments. So, for example, if you had to buy exercise equipment, because the gyms aren't open because and it was over $2,000 and you made$5,000 last year, just submit those receipts and that will be enough proof, Killercontinued,or if you had to buy a new computer because you had to Zoom things like that.. Branding Bar Menu. These proactive measures were established to protect those living on the reservation, 60 percent of whom are either elders or have an underlying health condition. Following is a summary of key federal disaster aid programs that can be made available as needed and warranted under President Donald J. Trump's disaster declaration issued for the Oglala Sioux Tribe of the Pine Ridge Reservation. So, at the very least use those native vendors as much as you can.. Environmental & Historic Preservation Guidance, Real Estate, Lending or Insurance Professionals, State, Local, Tribal or Territorial Governments, Preparedness Activities, Research & Webinars, Voluntary & Community-Based Organizations, Environmental Planning & Historic Preservation, National Business Emergency Operations Center, Individual Assistance | Public Assistance | How a Disaster Gets Declared, Events | Press Releases & Fact Sheets | PDFs, Graphics & Multimedia, Disaster Federal Register Notices | Preliminary Damage Assessments, South Dakota State and Local Level Referrals. The grant-based funding model is forcing tribes that are already overextended and strained by the pandemic to spend unnecessary resources on a duplicative reporting process simply to access aid that is already designated for them. Oglala Sioux Tribe; Standing Rock Sioux Tribe; Santa Clara Pueblo; Seminole Tribe of Florida; Disaster Relief Fund Reports; FEMA Guidance Documents; Glossary; OpenFEMA. Though the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, also known as the CARES Act, Congress allocated $150 billion in COVID-19 relief for tribes, states, local and territorial governments. No. She is a member of the Sault Ste. subscribe.submit(); subscribe.submit(); Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, for example, received only two test kits for a tribe of 44,000 people.36 The Oyate Health Center, a major health provider in Rapid City, South Dakota, which transitioned into tribal management in 2019, received almost no tests, PPE, or cleaning supplies.37 The Seattle Indian Health Board was sent body bags when it asked for more medical supplies to fight COVID-19.38 Urban Indian organizations are some of the worst hit, with 83 percent forced to reduce services and almost half unable to deliver medicine.39 Overwhelmed facilities are forced to fly patients into larger cities for treatment and must foot the transportation bill.40. Placement of land into trust is the main vehicle through which the federal government acts on its legal obligation to ensure tribes have the ability to pursue prosperity.53 Tribal homelands form the base on which tribes provide housing, health care, justice, education, and other essential services to their citizens. You already have a check in hand, it's easy, and you're basically helping your kids think about the future by helping them learning about savings, learning about checking, how a business operates, all that kind of stuff, and really looking at ways to go beyond your immediate needs and stuff like that. Sign Up Oglala Sioux Tribe / Pine Ridge Reservation: SD: No 7,718,878 . Home; Office of Child Care (OCC) Data; Data & Funding; . Territories, the District of Columbia, units of local government, and federally recognized tribal governments to support a broad range of activities to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the coronavirus. } LockA locked padlock Tribal measure: Navajo Nationarguably the countrys hardest-hit place by COVID-19, with infection and death rates among the highest in the worldclosed its borders and established strict curfew and social-distancing orders until June 7. In the long run, the federal government needs to acknowledge and internalize that the best it can do for Indian Country is to listen and work with tribes and tribal leaders. We, at the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, have been addressing the COVID-19 pandemic sinceits inception in the US. . AI/AN communities are suffering the highest COVID-19 infection rates, just as they bore the brunt of past disease outbreaks, due to the chronic, long-term underfunding of health care across Indian Country. COVID-19 will cost Indian Country an estimated $50 billion in economic activity and place the livelihoods of 1.1 million tribal business workersboth Native and non-Nativeat risk.23. https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/496325-native-health-center-says-it-received-body-bags-when-it-asked-for, https://www.ncuih.org/COVID_News?article_id=401, https://www.npr.org/2020/04/24/842945050/navajo-nation-sees-high-rate-of-covid-19-and-contact-tracing-is-a-challenge, https://www.nlm.nih.gov/nativevoices/timeline/616.html, http://www.ncai.org/Covid-19/legislative-updates/C4_Tribal_Infrastructure_Priorities_-House-.pdf, https://www.ojjdp.gov/mpg/litreviews/Tribal-youth-in-the-Juvenile-Justice-System.pdf, https://indiancountrytoday.com/news/south-dakota-tribes-stand-firm-behind-checkpoints-yKqqBIxRGkCXueAjMKH7oA, https://www.rgj.com/story/news/2020/04/23/coronavirus-impact-nevada-tribes-indigenous-people/5160591002/, https://www.nevadacurrent.com/2020/05/07/tribes-face-theft-vandalism-and-a-rising-number-of-covid-19-cases/, https://heated.world/p/a-deadly-re-opening, https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-utah-bears-ears-20181225-htmlstory.html, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/mar/31/trump-administration-revokes-mashpee-wampanoag-tribe-reservation-status, https://www.vox.com/identities/2020/4/2/21204113/mashpee-wampanoag-tribe-trump-reservation-native-land, https://medium.com/@CAPAction/six-ways-trump-is-rolling-back-environmental-protections-during-a-public-health-emergency-124357c57687, https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/10/opinions/trump-rushing-to-rollback-environmental-protections-during-pandemic-garbow/index.html, https://www.hcn.org/articles/covid19-indigenous-affairs-tribal-leaders-oppose-online-consultations-with-the-us-during-the-pandemic, https://www.tomudall.senate.gov/news/press-releases/udall-leads-senate-democrats-in-urging-trump-administration-to-indefinitely-extend-public-comment-periods-and-pause-unrelated-federal-rulemakings-during-covid-19-pandemic-emergency-, https://www.daily-times.com/story/news/local/2020/03/31/chaco-canyon-new-mexico-fracking-land-use-comment-postponed-coronavirus/5088284002/, https://insideclimatenews.org/news/07042020/alaskas-north-covid-19-has-not-stopped-trump-administrations-quest-drill-oil, https://earthjustice.org/blog/2020-may/virtual-hearings-are-silencing-indigenous-voices-in-alaska, https://www.wbur.org/earthwhile/2020/04/02/new-epa-rules-will-increase-air-pollution-as-the-world-suffers-a-respiratory-pandemic, https://indiancountrytoday.com/archive/genocide-by-other-means-u-s-army-slaughtered-buffalo-in-plains-indian-wars-nEWiK2AZik-yWbnFLXOqfw, Ensure the inclusion of AI/AN people in COVID-19 data, Develop executive branch infrastructure to address bureaucratic barriers, Support the development of tribal economies, Address the chronic underfunding of the Indian Health Service system, Support the development of Indian Countrys critical infrastructure, Support vulnerable populations by funding tribal public safety and justice needs, Restore tribal homelands and support tribal ecocultural resource management, Base relief and fund distribution formulas on tribal enrollment data rather than flawed census figures, Require that states and cities disaggregate COVID-19 racial data to accurately reflect its effect on AI/AN communities, Fund an interagency working group that substantively includes tribes to overcome challenges such as rural data collection, language barriers, and mistrust of federal agencies to end the erasure and invisibility of AI/AN people, Acknowledge and respect tribal enrollment data as a matter of sovereignty, Clearly define distribution formulas and requirements formed in consultation with tribal leaders in future COVID-19 legislation, Allow tribes greater flexibility with COVID-19 relief, effective retroactively on existing funds, Relieve and reduce duplicative and hefty reporting and application requirements during the pandemic, Automatically include tribal governments whenever state and local governments are named in COVID-19 legislation, Ensure that every federal agency has a fully funded and staffed Office of Tribal Relations, Streamline federal funding through agencies with the most robust relationship with tribes, Create a navigable portal for tribes and AI/AN organizations to access all funding opportunities and programs to reduce the administrative burden on tribes, Switch from a grant-based funding model to one that allows tribes greater sovereignty and self-determination through direct funding, Ensure that all federal funding is provided directly to tribes rather than through states or local governments, Increase appropriations to the Coronavirus Relief Fund tribal set-aside by $20 billionwhich tribes originally requestedor 10 percent of additional Coronavirus Relief Fund appropriations, Provide a tribal set-aside in Title IV of the CARES Act to address the economic stabilization and assistance needs of tribal governments and their enterprises, Require immediate distribution of funds based on data submitted by tribes, Ensure easily accessible emergency assistance and unemployment support to all tribal businesses and workers, Provide additional funding for Native Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) and the Native American Contractors Association (NACA), Waive the cost-share requirements to excess Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funds, Remove the dual taxation of tribal business activities by local and state governments, Simplify and make permanent the Indian employment tax credit, Allow tribes to receive the same exemption from federal excise taxes as state and local governments and provide tribes tax-exempt bond parity with state and local governments, Increase immediate funding to the IHS and prioritize urban Indian health, including access to the national service supply center for essential testing equipment; equipment purchases and replacements; and IHS hospitals and health clinic on-site treatment capacity, Expedite the reauthorization of the IHS Special Diabetes Program for Indians (SDPI) and other programs that deal with immunocompromising conditions that require uninterrupted care, Provide all I/T/U facilities access to the Strategic National Stockpile and Public Health Emergency Fund, Include pharmacists, licensed marriage and family therapists, licensed counselors, and other providers as eligible provider types under Medicare for reimbursement to I/T/U facilities in order to lessen the burden of mental health on immunity, Extend waivers under Medicare for the use of telehealth in Indian Country, Remove restrictions and barriers on care provision through urban Indian health organizations, Increase funding for the IHS andstrengthen coordination among federal, tribal, state, and local health agencies, Fund job-training programs to address staff shortages through the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, Provide a tax incentive for IHS professionals similar to other public sector health workers, Ensure an explicit mention of urban Indian organizations in I/T/U-related legislation to combat the invisibility of urban AI/AN suffering, Provide immediate funding for essential facility construction and solutions related to health care, sanitation, sewage and waste disposal, drinking water, quarantine housing, air transport flexibilities for remote communities, and broadband services, Establish a tribal broadband fund at the Federal Communications Commission and extend the period for tribal governments to complete applications for wireless broadband and increased mobile coverage in Indian Country in light of COVID-19, Invest in tribal programs on infrastructure, construction, rural development, and waste management that are identified as relevant to the long-term COVID-19 response, Provide wireless hotspots and technological equipment for BIE schools along with nutrition access for students and expanded benefits for teachers, Increase funding for the Bureau of Indian Affairs Housing Improvement Program and the Indian Housing Block Grant Program and include AI/AN in any new housing assistance programs, Take proactive steps to increase funding for both BIE schools as well as broadband development on tribal lands, Reauthorize programs such as the Reclamation Water Settlements Fund (RWSF) to live up to its obligations to ensure tribes access to amenities that are taken for granted in nontribal communities without a history of dispossession.