Resources

The disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 virus on Native American peoples has amplified educational and health care inequities that have persisted for Native peoples throughout the United States resulting from federal policies that disrupted and attempted to erase Indigenous educational systems, family structures, and languages.

As tribal citizens and government leaders continue to take action to protect their communities, the allocation of $20 billion in one-time federal relief funds in response to the COVID-19 pandemic offers a way to help address immediate needs as well as those that tribal leaders have been working to address for generations.

This brief provides insights from tribal leaders who offer strategies for directing one-time federal funds to improve educational outcomes and strengthen infrastructure for the 574 federally recognized tribes in the United States.