Challenges tribes face as the U.S. government shutdown continues into second month

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Tribes’ Ability to Feed Families, Provide Child Welfare Services Threatened Under Second-Longest Government Shutdown in History

By Nancy Marie Spears

Starting Nov. 1, millions of people — including large percentages of Native American populations — may not receive their food stamps benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP. Photo by Adobe Stock.

Frost and freezes are starting to set in across the northern swaths of Indian Country, but the heat may soon get shut off in family homes. 

Lines at food banks on reservations are longer than usual. 

Tribal social workers are going without pay.

These are just a few of the challenges tribes face as the U.S. government shutdown continues into its second month.

“Every day without funding stretches social workers and law enforcement thin, putting vulnerable children in danger,” said Marisa Cummings, a citizen of the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska and a tribal consultant with 20 years of experience in federal policy and advocacy. 

Starting Nov. 1, millions of people may not receive their food stamps benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP. Also frozen: the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program; Head Start preschool funding; and Women, Infants and Children subsidies as the federal government heads toward a “fiscal cliff.”

In addition to the federal safety-net programs that are particularly vital to rural tribal communities, the shutdown has also halted funding that tribes get from the Bureau of Indian Affairs for child welfare and law enforcement services. That has prevented tribes from paying social workers and other essential staff, making it difficult to respond to child protection concerns, conduct home visits, or provide foster care prevention.

Aaron Payment

The Sault Ste. Marie of Chippewa Indians, the largest tribe east of the Mississippi, is projecting a 30% to 40% increased burden on its tribal commodities program because many citizens rely on the SNAP benefits slated to be paused.

The outcome will be dire, predicts councilmember Aaron Payment.

“We’re going to run out of food,” he said. 

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The tribe is also poised to receive just one-third of the utility assistance funding it usually obtains through the federal government. That will leave over 300 families without heat this winter on the reservation that borders Canada. 

Hundreds of other families outside of the tribe’s service area will be more immediately impacted, since they must apply for benefits through the state.

“Getting by without the social safety net might be the new normal,” Payment said.

On Wednesday, Chief Ben Barnes of the Shawnee Tribe declared a state of emergency in response to the federal shutdown. Almost 800 Shawnee families will lose SNAP benefits, he said, so the tribe is setting up an impromptu food bank for families who may not be able to feed their children in the coming weeks.  

“What concerns me the most is little kids going without meals,” Barnes said. “We’ve already seen grocery prices rising in the last few years with families not able to meet basic needs. The fact that people may have to forego eating just to make ends meet worries me greatly.”

At least one-fourth of Native American populations rely on federal food assistance, according to federal data. And in some tribal communities, the percentage is as high as 60% to 80% of citizens. 

In a 2020 blog post, Janie Simms Hipp, CEO of the Native American Agriculture Fund, described the larger context unique to Indigenous communities.

“Federal feeding programs are a fixture of Tribal communities due to the remoteness of our people and our lands,” she said. “It is also due to minimal employment opportunities, anemic transportation systems and in many cases the total absence of electricity and running water in tribal homes.”

Those needs are now being exacerbated by the federal government shutdown that began on Oct. 1 amid a partisan battle over health insurance costs. 

“We’ve already seen grocery prices rising in the last few years with families not able to meet basic needs. The fact that people may have to forego eating just to make ends meet worries me greatly.”

— Chief Ben Barnes, Shawnee Tribe

The Trump administration argues its case in a boldly colored post on the top of the website for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, where it describes the food stamps program. It chides Senate Democrats — who have insisted on renewing subsidies for private health insurance plans — describing them as the reason for the food stamp program being placed on hold.

“They can continue to hold out for healthcare for illegal aliens and gender mutilation procedures or reopen the government so mothers, babies, and the most vulnerable among us can receive critical nutrition assistance,” the government states.

Democrats and tribal leaders insist this is a skewed perspective. And for now, Indigenous communities are stepping up to ensure their citizens are fed this month.

Large tribes like the Tulalip in Washington state have millions of dollars in a rainy-day fund, so they’re able to operate mostly business-as-usual, despite the shutdown. 

Are you an Indigenous person impacted by the government shutdown? Email nspears@imprintnews.org. 

The Cherokee Nation, too, is stepping in, providing $4.5 million to its citizens on the reservation and in Tulsa and surrounding cities to make up for potential lost SNAP benefits. In an interview with Fox News, Cherokee Nation Chief Chief Chuck Hoskin, Jr. said that for now, his tribe, local government and community groups can supplant the state’s average monthly food stamp benefit of $185. 

That can’t last for long, he added.

“The private sector can surely get us through a period of time until the United States gets its act together. Congress needs to get its act together,” Hoskin said. “The president needs to get with Congress and get this government back open. But until then, we have to act locally.”

While the shutdown persists, not all tribes can set aside extra money for emergency situations, Cummings noted. Certain sovereign nations will feel the effects more quickly due to varying amounts of federal funding tribes receive and compete for. Tribes most immediately impacted will be the smaller communities with fewer than 2,000 citizens.

“We’re tribal nations. There’s treaty and trust responsibilities that the United States government has, regardless if you’re shut down, regardless of who the president is,”

— Chairman Bobby Gonzalez, Caddo Nation

Other tribes like the Shawnee Tribe in Oklahoma and the Sault Ste. Marie of Chippewa Indians in Michigan have enough in their coffers to sustain them for about two to three years, tribal community members said in recent interviews.

Tribes seeking human services funding and assistance are dealing with another problem: shuttered regional Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) offices and fired BIA social workers, actions taken early on in President Donald Trump’s second term. 

David Simmons, spokesperson for the National Indian Child Welfare Association, said those staff members are essential. Social workers at BIA provide technical assistance for tribes’ human service programs. The firings and closures also impact tribes’ response times to notices from state agencies regarding Indigenous children involved in state child welfare cases. 

When BIA staff can’t review these notices, the child’s tribe may not learn about the case or be able to intervene.

In a Cherokee Phoenix article, Chairman Bobby Gonzalez of the Caddo Nation described the impact of the shutdown as a violation of agreements between nations: Food, energy and other social service benefits are not “a handout” from the United States government.

“We’re tribal nations. There’s treaty and trust responsibilities that the United States government has, regardless if you’re shut down, regardless of who the president is,” Gonzales said. “It doesn’t matter if they’re Democrat or Republican, there is a trust responsibility to make sure that these tribes are taken care of related to those treaty rights.”

Freelance journalist Suzette Brewer contributed to this report.

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