Continuing Federal Funding Shortfall for Native Americans

U.S. COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS

BROKEN PROMISES:

Continuing Federal Funding Shortfall for Native Americans

U.S. COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS

Washington, DC 20425 Official Business

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BRIEFING

REPORT

DECEMBER 2018

U.S. COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights is an independent, bipartisan agency established by Congress in 1957. It is directed to:

? Investigate complaints alleging that citizens are being deprived of their right to vote by reason of their race, color, religion, sex, age, disability, or national origin, or by reason of fraudulent practices.

? Study and collect information relating to discrimination or a denial of equal protection of the laws under the Constitution because of race, color, religion, sex, age, disability, or national origin, or in the administration of justice.

? Appraise federal laws and policies with respect to discrimination or denial of equal protection of the laws because of race, color, religion, sex, age, disability, or national origin, or in the administration of justice.

? Serve as a national clearinghouse for information in respect to discrimination or denial of equal protection of the laws because of race, color, religion, sex, age, disability, or national origin.

? Submit reports, findings, and recommendations to the President and Congress.

? Issue public service announcements to discourage discrimination or denial of equal protection of the laws.*

MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION Catherine E. Lhamon, Chairperson Patricia Timmons-Goodson, Vice Chairperson Debo P. Adegbile Gail L. Heriot Peter N. Kirsanow David Kladney Karen Narasaki Michael Yaki

Mauro Morales, Staff Director

U.S. Commission on Civil Rights 1331 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20425 (202) 376-8128 voice TTY Relay: 711



*42 U.S.C. ?1975a.

Broken Promises: Continuing Federal Funding Shortfall for

Native Americans

Briefing Before The United States Commission on Civil Rights

Held in Washington, DC

Briefing Report

December 2018

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UNITED STATES COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS

1331 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Suite 1150 Washington, DC 20425

Letter of Transmittal

December 20, 2018

President Donald J. Trump Vice President Mike Pence Speaker of the House Paul Ryan

On behalf of the United States Commission on Civil Rights ("the Commission"), I am pleased to transmit our briefing report, Broken Promises: Continuing Federal Funding Shortfall for Native Americans. The report is also available in full on the Commission's website at .

Since our nation's founding, the United States and Native Americans have committed to and sustained a special trust relationship, which obligates the federal government to promote tribal self-government, support the general wellbeing of Native American tribes and villages, and to protect their lands and resources. In exchange for the surrender and reduction of tribal lands and removal and resettlement of approximately one-fifth of Native American tribes from their original lands, the United States signed 375 treaties, passed laws, and instituted policies that shape and define the special government-to-government relationship between federal and tribal governments. Yet the U.S. government forced many Native Americans to give up their culture and, throughout the history of this relationship, has not provided adequate assistance to support Native American interconnected infrastructure, self-governance, housing, education, health, and economic development needs.

In this report, the Commission updates its 2003 report, A Quiet Crisis: Federal Funding and Unmet Needs in Indian Country, which evaluated budgets and spending of federal agencies that sponsor Native American programs, including the Departments of Health and Human Services, Interior, Housing and Urban Development, Justice, and Education. Despite some progress, the crisis the Commission found in 2003 remains, and the federal government continues to fail to support adequately the social and economic wellbeing of Native Americans. Due at least in part to the failure of the federal government adequately to address the wellbeing of Native Americans over the last two centuries, Native Americans continue to rank near the bottom of all Americans in health, education, and employment outcomes.

The Commission majority approved key findings including the following: Federal programs designed to support the social and economic wellbeing of Native Americans remain chronically underfunded and sometimes inefficiently structured, which leaves many basic needs in the

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