OPINION:
Next week, the D.C. Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments in a case that’s critically important to America’s Native communities.
Although 157 days have passed since the CARES Act was signed into law, many of Alaska’s Native communities, which have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19, haven’t received a dime of this crucial funding that is rightfully theirs.
Title V of the CARES Act specified that Native tribes would be granted $8 billion for basic essentials. Goods such as food and water, human necessities like heating and cooling, and medical services were all areas Congress envisioned assisting through this funding. Yet a lawsuit unfolding in federal court is keeping Alaska Native communities from accessing these basic essentials
One of those Native communities is my village of Stebbins, Alaska, a town with a Native population of about 1,000 people who don’t have running water.
The Indian Health Service is tasked with overseeing projects that improve the public health and overall level of sanitation of Native communities. Each project and/or community is prioritized in terms of “deficiency levels” prioritized in terms of ranging from 1 to 5, with 5 being the most deficient. Currently, Stebbins holds a Deficiency Level 5 categorization.
In April, I filed an amicus brief in the ongoing federal lawsuit to stop CARES Act funding for Alaska Native corporations, urging the court to recognize the hardships that the Stebbins Native community increasingly face in the storm of COVID-19.
I noted how our community of 1,000 doesn’t have running water or flush toilets. This is infrastructure we could construct through CARES Act funding to Alaska Native Corporations. Stebbins is vulnerable to wind-driven storm floods off the Bering Sea — storms that flood homes, damage property and infrastructure and spread human waste throughout the community, threatening lives. While certain tribes attempt to demonize our Alaska Native corporations (established by Congress nearly 50 years ago), “Honey buckets” slop and spill foul liquid that dries into dust on the streets where kids play.
While many groups have moved on to vie for inclusion in a second round of CARES Act funding, our community lacks the very basic infrastructure that is needed to prevent the spread of disease. Alaska Native people and communities do not deserve to suffer simply because some misunderstand the tribal organizations in our state. It’s no question that Native communities across the 50 states are doing their best to make ends meet, Alaska Native corporations included. Communities like Stebbins are experiencing some of the worst conditions and times ahead as we navigate COVID-19.
The clock has ticked. Time has run out and our village now has confirmed cases of COVID-19. Support for Alaska Native communities and villages is needed now, more than ever. We desperately need CARES Act funds to be released, so they can support all of America’s Native communities — as they were intended to do.
• Thomas Kirk is the CEO of Stebbins Native Corporation.
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