WINDOW ROCK — On Wednesday, Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez announced that the Navajo Nation has joined 10 other tribes in a lawsuit against the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, regarding federal COVID-19 funding.
Congress allocated $8 billion to help tribal governments fight the COVID-19 pandemic under the Coronavirus Relief Fund. However, the Secretary of the Treasury intends to fund over 230 Alaska Native Corporations using the funds. Alaska Native Corporations are for-profit corporations organized under state law and are owned by shareholders, including non-Indian shareholders.
The 12 regional Alaska Native Corporations alone have over 138,000 shareholders, employ more than 43,000 people worldwide, and generated more than $10.5 billion in revenues in 2018.
“Allocating funds from the Coronavirus Relief Fund to the Alaska Native Corporations will severely impact the Navajo Nation’s ability to fight COVID-19, and will impact every other tribe as well.
While the Secretary has not yet announced a formula to disburse the funds, including the Alaska Native Corporations in the calculation will reduce the funds available for tribal governments. 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,” said President Nez.
The Navajo Nation previously opposed CARES Act funding for Alaska Native Corporations and demanded answers from the Department of Interior and the Department of Treasury regarding their decision to include them.