CARES Act Payments for Alaska Natives

This week a Cert Petitions askes the Supreme Court to Review whether Alaska Native Corporations are “Indian tribes” who can receive CARES Act Payments.

In the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (, Congress established a Different Relationship with Alaska Natives than it had with Native Americans in the lower 48 States.

Rejecting Reservations, the ANCSA mandated the Creation of “Regional Corporations” and “Village Corporations” to Manage Native Lands, Administer Settlement Funds, and act for the Benefit of Alaska Natives.

Fast forward to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, in which Congress directed the Treasury Secretary to Disburse $8 Billion of Relief Funds to the Governing Bodies of “Indian Tribes” as Defined in the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act.

This Act defines “Indian Tribe” as “any Indian tribe, band, nation, or other organized group or community, including any Alaska Native village or regional or village corporation … which is recognized as eligible for the special programs and services provided by the United States to Indians because of their status as Indians.”

In April 2020, Several Tribes Sued the Treasury Secretary to Prevent Payments to Alaska Native Corporations.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit Agreed that the Corporations are Not Eligible to receive CARES Act Payments because these Groups are Not “Indian Tribes.”

In the view of the D.C. Circuit, the above Definition meant that only Alaska Native Corporations that are Formally Recognized Qualify as Indian Tribes.

However, the D.C. Circuit continued, Recognition is a “legal term of art” in Indian Law and the Corporations have Never been Recognized in this Formal Sense.

Petitions from the Treasury Secretary, Mnuchin v. Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation, and Alaska Native Corporations, Alaska Native Village Corporation Association v. Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation, ask the Justices to Review this Decision.

Among other things, the Petitions argue that the D.C. Circuit’s Reading Conflicts with Congress’ intent in the CARES Act and with Decisions by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, which hears the Majority of Alaska Native Cases.










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