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Policy Brief: Proposal for a Fair and Feasible Formula for the Allocation of CARES Act COVID‐19 Relief Funds to American Indian and Alaska Native Tribal Governments
Title V of the CARES Act requires that the Act’s funds earmarked for tribal governments be released immediately and that they be used for actions taken to respond to the COVID‐19 pandemic. These may include costs incurred by tribal governments to respond directly to the crisis, such as medical or…
On the Front Lines: Tribal Nations Take on COVID-19
Like governments around the world, America’s 574 federally recognized tribal nations are racing to protect their citizens from the coronavirus. Impacting tribes at a rate four times higher than for the US population, the pandemic is testing the limits of tribal public health infrastructures.…
Miriam Jorgensen on New Policy Brief Dissecting Round 1 Allocations of CARES Act Tribal Funding
Miriam Jorgensen, Research Director with the Harvard Project and with Native Nations Institute at the University of Arizona, discusses the release of a new Harvard Project and Native Nations Institute policy brief dissecting the US Treasury Department's round 1 allocations of CARES Act funding for…
Policy Brief: The Need for a Significant Allocation of COVID‐19 Response Funds to American Indian Nations
This policy brief addresses the impact of the current COVID‐19 crisis on American Indian tribal economies, tribes’ responses to the crisis, and the implications of these impacts and actions for the US government’s allocation of crisis‐response funds to federally recognized tribes. We conclude that…
Policy Brief: Dissecting the US Treasury Department’s Round 1 Allocations of CARES Act COVID‐19 Relief Funding for Tribal Governments
In a joint statement, Treasury Secretary Mnuchin and Interior Secretary Bernhardt detailed the amount of CARES Act Title V funds that would be released for federally recognized American Indian tribes starting on May 5, 2010. They noted that the US Treasury Department would “distribute 60 percent of…
Indigenize the Internet: How to close the digital divide by respecting tribal sovereignty by Darrah Blackwater
Broadband internet and the tools necessary to access it are critical for economic development, education and employment opportunities, and public health and safety for tribal nations and their citizens. Broadband internet is an essential utility, especially during this global pandemic, which is…
Indigenous Data Sovereignty: The CARE Principles and the Biocultural Labels Initiative
The NYU Alliance for Public Interest Technology Alliance is a dynamic and multidisciplinary group of NYU faculty who are experts on the responsible and ethical creation, use and governance of technology in society. The Alliance is a provostial initiative that connects numerous NYU hubs…
The Impact of the Pandemic on Native American Communities: Interview with Joseph Kalt
As COVID-19 tears across Indian Country, tribal governments are racing to meet not only the public health challenges caused by the pandemic, but are also grappling with the economic devastation left in its wake. To learn more about the economic crisis unfolding across Indian Country, the Ash…
Mātauranga and Science
"Mātauranga Māori is not like an archive of information but rather is like a tool for thinking, organising information, considering the ethics of knowledge, the appropriateness of it all and informing us about our world and our place in it." (Mead 2003, p. 306) Māori have become a pivotal force in…
Articulating ‘free, prior and informed consent’ (FPIC) for engineered gene drives
Recent statements by United Nations bodies point to free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) as a potential requirement in the development of engineered gene drive applications. As a concept developed in the context of protecting Indigenous rights to self-determination in land development scenarios…
Data Sources to Assess Tribal Climate and Health Impacts
One of the most time consuming and difficult aspects of conducting climate change and health vulnerability assessments is finding data to assess. Before tracking down data, you’ll first need to identify the most meaningful and measurable indicators to help you determine the severity and likelihood…
Surging Waters: Science Empowering Communities in the Face of Flooding
Surging Waters: Science Empowering Communities in the Face of Flooding is a report produced by AGU, a global not-for-profit scientific society dedicated to advancing the Earth and space sciences for the benefit of humanity. The report is reviewed by leading experts in these fields. From devastating…
Coastal Guardian Watchmen Programs: A Business Case
As the original stewards of their territories, the Coastal First Nations along British Columbia’s North Coast, Central Coast and Haida Gwaii have been working to establish and grow Guardian Watchmen programs, in some cases for several decades. These programs have come to play an important role in…
What are the Limits of Social Inclusion? Indigenous Peoples and Indigenous Governance in Canada and the United States
Contemporary debates about poverty and its mitigation often invoke the idea of social inclusion: the effort to increase the capacities and opportunities of disadvantaged populations to participate more fully in the economy, polity, and institutions of developed societies. While practical outcomes…
Indigenized Communication During COVID-19
During times of crisis, the messages we send to our stakeholders matter more than ever. Tribal governments and Native organizations are on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic and are making important decisions to protect the health and safety of their people. As Indigenous people, we…
Harvard Project: COVID-19 Resources for Indian Country Toolbox
As the country responds to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the task before tribal nations is complicated by many unknowns. The Harvard Project recognizes the challenges you're up against and we want to help. We are not experts in the health consequences of the pandemic, but we are monitoring…
HPAIED Letter to the Treasury: Allocation of COVID-19 Response Funds to American Indian Nations
Dear Secretary Mnuchin, We write to respectfully comment on the impact of the current COVID-19 crisis on American Indian tribal economies, tribes’ responses to the crisis, and on implications for the allocation of federal COVID-19 response funds to federally recognized tribes under the CARES Act…
Native American tribe takes trailblazing steps to fight Covid-19 outbreak
The Lummi nation, a sovereign Native American tribe in the Pacific north-west, will soon open a pioneering field hospital to treat coronavirus patients, as part of a wave of strong public health measures which have gone further than many governments. Tribal leaders have been preparing for Covid-19…
Stephen Roe Lewis: Effective Tribal Leadership for Change
Stephen Roe Lewis has been serving two terms as the Governor of the Gila River Indian Community. He follows a strong tradition and family legacy of leadership for the Akimel O’otham and Pee-Posh people in this desert riparian region of Arizona. Governor Lewis has worked on numerous political…
A Quiet Crisis: Federal Funding and Unmet Needs in Indian Country
The federal government has a long-established special relationship with Native Americans characterized by their status as governmentally independent entities, dependent on the United States for support and protection. In exchange for land and in compensation for forced removal from their original…