Alaskan Native Tribes Awarded $500M in CARES Funding Via SOCTUS Ruling
The Supreme Court ruled on Friday in favor of granting $500 million to Alaskan Native tribes under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act as opposed to spreading benefits more broadly across Native American tribes, the Associated Press reported.
The justices ruled 6-3 to send the relief package to the Alaskan Natives after debate on if they counted as "Indian tribes" due to them being pro-profit companies that provide benefits and social services to the more than 100,000 Alaska Natives.
After the CARES Act was passed, three Native American groups sued to prevent Alaska Native corporations from receiving the money. They argued that aid belongs to tribes that are sovereign governments and not corporations.
For more reporting from the Associated Press, see below.
The massive pandemic relief package passed last year and signed into law by then-President Donald Trump. The $2.2 trillion legislation earmarked $8 billion for "Tribal governments" to cover expenses related to the pandemic.
"The Court today affirms what the Federal Government has maintained for almost half a century: ANCs are Indian tribes," wrote Justice Sonia Sotomayor for a group of both liberal and conservative members of the court.
Sotomayor and Justice Neil Gorsuch, who dissented, dueled over language in the CARES Act, with Sotomayor at one point comparing it to a poorly constructed restaurant advertisement.
If the restaurant offers "50% off any meat, vegetable, or seafood dish, including ceviche, which is cooked," the best reading of the advertisement, she said, is that "cooked" doesn't apply to the ceviche, a raw fish dish, but that ceviche is still 50% off. A different reading would make the ceviche a "red herring," she went on to say.
Gorsuch, who at an argument once revealed his preference for turmeric in his steak rub, called the example "a bit underdone." He went on to cite two different newspaper stories about ceviche. He was joined in his dissent by justices Clarence Thomas and Elena Kagan.
The case is important not only because of the amount of money it involves but also because Native Americans and Alaska Natives have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic. Both the Trump and Biden administrations agreed that the corporations should be treated as Indian tribes and that doing differently would be a dramatic departure from the status quo.
In a statement after the ruling, Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez said the coalition of tribes that brought the lawsuit was disappointed.
"This case was never about the funds. Instead, it was about upholding tribal sovereignty and the status of federally-recognized tribes," he said, adding that the ruling "undermines federally-recognized tribes and will have consequences far beyond the allocation of CARES Act dollars."
Part of the issue for the Supreme Court was that Alaska is unique. Unlike in the lower 48 states, Alaska Native tribes aren't situated on reservations. Instead, Native land is owned by Alaska Native corporations created under a 1971 law. The for-profit corporations run oil, gas, mining and other enterprises. Alaska Natives own shares in the corporations, which provide a range of services from healthcare and elder care to educational support and housing assistance.
Associations representing Native corporations cheered the decision.
"We are pleased to see the Court affirm Alaska Native corporations' eligibility for CARES Act funds to help our people and communities recover from the devastating effects of COVID-19. Alaska's economy is only now starting to recover, and these funds are needed to help our communities get back on their feet," the associations said.
