North Dakota tribes finding food, fuel solutions with federal aid uncertain

BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) — The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Spirit Lake Nation and Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa have enacted emergency plans as they prepare for interruptions to federal nutrition and fuel programs come November.

“These are things that were thrown on us knowing damn well that we are going into our winter months,” Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Chair Jamie Azure said during a Thursday morning tribal council meeting. “This is a literal life and death situation for a lot of people.”

Tribal governments are tapping into their own resources to help their communities weather the shutdown, which started Oct. 1 after Congress failed to adopt a budget.

The Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa on Thursday announced it will deploy over $1 million to help fill in some of the service gaps. That includes $500,000 for food vouchers, $500,000 in fuel assistance, $40,000 to a community soup kitchen, $50,000 for a senior meal program, $100,000 for a school backpack nutrition program and $40,000 for meals at Turtle Mountain College, the tribal council said during the meeting.

“We probably won’t feel a major impact for a few weeks into November, but it was important that we exhausted every avenue before we got to this point,” Azure said.

He said the tribe doesn’t expect the federal government to reimburse it for any of the expenses after it reopens.

Tribal governments are also encouraging members enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to switch to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Distribution Program, which provides food to low-income households living on reservations. Some Native American households living near reservations can also participate in the program.

The Spirit Lake Nation informed its members they had to close their SNAP account by Tuesday in order to be eligible for the Food Distribution Program for November.

Rep. Collette Brown, a Warwick Democrat and Spirit Lake Nation citizen, said Thursday that the tribe is worried about how to get food and supplies in the hands of members without reliable transportation.

She said the Food Distribution Program offers healthy options and enrollees typically get more food per month compared to SNAP, but that it is less convenient since it requires people to pick up boxes in person at distribution centers.

Brown said the Spirit Lake Nation may establish a food voucher program for its grocery store, though the tribal government hasn’t decided yet.

“They’re still thinking it over, trying to identify where we can get funds,” she said.

Brown said the tribe will do whatever it can to keep its citizens warm and fed during the winter. They have firefighters splitting wood for fuel, and may also bring in hunters to help process game, she said.

In an Oct. 23 statement, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Chair Steve Sitting Bear criticized the shutdown and its effect on federal programs as a violation of the federal government’s duty to tribes.

“Congress, your citizens need you to come together,” Sitting Bear said in the statement. “Our tribal nations need you to fulfill your promises and obligations written in treaties and trust agreements. The consequences of your divisive political rhetoric are putting unneeded stress on your countrymen and women.”

A state of emergency declaration adopted by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe authorized the tribal council to use emergency funds to support social services during the shutdown.

The declaration notes that the tribe has more than 2,300 monthly participants in SNAP, about half of which are children. It has about 200 participants in the Women, Infants and Children Program, and about 900 participants in the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program during the winter.

Leaders of Turtle Mountain, Standing Rock and Spirit Lake, along with the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate and Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation adopted a joint resolution on Oct. 23 calling on the state to support the continuation of services like SNAP and the Women, Infants and Children Program during the shutdown.

“I grew up on these programs, and I know firsthand how critical they are for families working hard to make ends meet,” Rep. Lisa Finley-Deville, a Mandaree Democrat and citizen of the MHA Nation, said in a statement announcing the resolution.

The MHA Nation in a Thursday statement to the North Dakota Monitor said it has not declared a state of emergency, but is coordinating with food distribution organizations to address food insecurity during the shutdown.

North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong on Thursday announced the state is using $1.5 million in general funds from the Department of Health and Human Services to go toward the Great Plains Food Bank and to sustain the Women, Infants and Children Program through the month of November.

“In my talks with the Governor’s staff this morning, each tribe will receive a truckload of food,” Rep. Jayme Davis, a Rolette Democrat and Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa member, said in a Thursday Facebook post. She wrote that Turtle Mountain and Spirit Lake’s deliveries are expected Nov. 5.

North Dakota Monitor reporter Mary Steurer can be reached at msteurer@northdakotamonitor.com.