{"id":16215,"date":"2021-09-27T18:12:28","date_gmt":"2021-09-27T22:12:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/News\/?p=16215"},"modified":"2021-09-27T18:36:20","modified_gmt":"2021-09-27T22:36:20","slug":"indian-country-today-alaska-native-corporations-finally-receive-covid-19-funds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2021\/09\/27\/indian-country-today-alaska-native-corporations-finally-receive-covid-19-funds\/","title":{"rendered":"Indian Country Today: Alaska Native corporations finally receive COVID-19 funds"},"content":{"rendered":" <a href=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2021\/09\/27\/indian-country-today-alaska-native-corporations-finally-receive-covid-19-funds\/alaskanativeyouth\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-16223\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1967\" data-attachment-id=\"16223\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2021\/09\/27\/indian-country-today-alaska-native-corporations-finally-receive-covid-19-funds\/alaskanativeyouth\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/27\/alaskanativeyouth-scaled.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"2560,1967\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-title=\"Alaska Native Youth\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Alaska Native youth are seen taking part in the  First Alaskans Institute Elders and Youth conference in Anchorage, Alaska, in October 2018. Photo by &lt;A href=&quot;https:\/\/twitter.com\/Kevin_Abourezk&quot;&gt;Kevin Abourezk&lt;\/A&gt; &lt;A href=&quot;https:\/\/twitter.com\/Kevin_Abourezk&quot;&gt;&lt;I aria-hidden=true class=&quot;fab fa-twitter&quot;&gt;&lt;\/I&gt;&lt;\/A&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/27\/alaskanativeyouth-1024x787.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/27\/alaskanativeyouth-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Alaska Native Youth\"  class=\"size-full wp-image-16223\" \/><\/a> <figcaption class=\"figure-caption\">Alaska Native youth are seen taking part in the  First Alaskans Institute Elders and Youth conference in Anchorage, Alaska, in October 2018. Photo by <A href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Kevin_Abourezk\">Kevin Abourezk<\/A> <A href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Kevin_Abourezk\"><I aria-hidden=true class=\"fab fa-twitter\"><\/I><\/A><\/figcaption>\r\n<div class=\"h3-responsive font-weight-bold\">Following the coronavirus relief funds in Alaska<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"h5-responsive sub\">Alaska Native corporations are figuring out how to distribute the funds more than a year after the CARES Act lawsuit started<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"date\">Monday, September 27, 2021<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"byline\">By Meghan Sullivan<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"source\">Indian Country Today<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"source-website\"><a href=\"https:\/\/indiancountrytoday.com\/\">indiancountrytoday.com<\/a><\/div>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nThe Supreme Court announced that <a href=https:\/\/www.ciri.com\/ancs-win-tribal-cares-act-case\/>Alaska Native corporations were eligible for CARES Act funding<\/a> in June, after a year of legal conflicts surrounding the issue.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nThe <a href=https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2021\/06\/25\/nations-highest-court-sides-with-alaska-native-corporations-in-covid-19-dispute\/>decision was widely celebrated by impacted Alaska Native organizations<\/a> that stated the stalled relief funds negatively affected an already at-risk community during the height of the pandemic. Now, the corporations are moving on to phase two of the process: determining how they can best use the final funding amount they each received.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n\u201cThere&#8217;s a significant amount of need in our region, and among Alaska Native and American Indian people. And it&#8217;s a huge responsibility for CIRI, as well as our sister [corporations] and our partner organizations to responsibly get this money and these resources out to where they\u2019re needed most, as expeditiously as possible,\u201d said Ethan Tyler, director of corporate affairs for CIRI, one of the 13 Alaska Native regional corporations.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nOverall, 13 Alaska Native regional corporations and more than 150 village corporations received nearly $450 million in relief funds. They have until December 31, 2021, to spend it, according to the CARES Act legislation.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nMost of the corporations are planning to deploy a combination of individual shareholder payments and donations to larger assistance programs. First, they will distribute dividends directly to shareholders, based on who experienced financial setbacks during the pandemic. The remaining funds will then go towards other community initiatives, unless the corporations set aside a predetermined amount.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n\u201cWe want to ensure that 100 percent of the CARES Act funding that we received benefits our shareholders and descendants who&#8217;ve been impacted. And so Koniag is absorbing 100 percent of any cost associated with administering our CARES Act funding,\u201d said Shauna Hegna, Alutiiq, President of Koniag.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<div class=\"embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9\">\r\n<div class=\" content_cards_card content_cards_domain_youtu-be\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"content_cards_image\">\n\t\t\t\t<a class=\"content_cards_image_link\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/Re3WpXniYY8\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/plugins\/content-cards\/skins\/default\/content-cards-placeholder.png\" alt=\" - YouTube\">\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t<div class=\"content_cards_title\">\n\t\t<a class=\"content_cards_title_link\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/Re3WpXniYY8\">\n\t\t\t &#8211; YouTube\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"content_cards_description\">\n\t\t<a class=\"content_cards_description_link\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/Re3WpXniYY8\">\n\t\t\t<p>Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"content_cards_site_name\">\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/s\/desktop\/e358493a\/img\/favicon.ico\" alt=\"youtu.be\" class=\"content_cards_favicon\"\/>\t\tyoutu.be\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<figcaption class=\"figure-caption\">Indianz.Com Video: <a href=https:\/\/youtu.be\/Re3WpXniYY8>U.S. Supreme Court &#8211; Yellen v. Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation &#8211; April 19, 2021<\/a>\r\n<\/figcaption>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nEligible shareholders can apply for the funds through an application process listed on their regional corporation\u2019s website. The timeline differs across regions, but most applications are due in the coming weeks, with distribution set for late fall or early winter. People can only receive the dividend if they meet the Department of the Treasury\u2019s relief criteria \u2014 meaning that they have to prove they were impacted by the pandemic financially. Funding may cover rent, utilities, housing, childcare, fuel, household supplies, hygiene supplies and more.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nWhile the corporations\u2019 overarching strategies are similar, the details look different across the regions, due to each area\u2019s varying needs. For example, in addition to shareholder dividends, Calista Corporation, an Alaska Native regional corporation, plans to give $10,000 to a fish donation program. The initiative will enable families in the Yukon River area to receive salmon, after record-breaking low returns this year devastated subsistence opportunities.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nMeanwhile, the regional corporation Koniag is using part of their funds to address an often overlooked impact of the pandemic: mental health decline. A recent shareholder survey overwhelmingly pointed to isolation and mental health struggles as the pandemic\u2019s worst consequence. In response, the corporation will be issuing vouchers for free online counseling to any Alaska Native shareholder or descendent that applies for the program.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nCorporations like Koniag and CIRI will also be donating to community initiatives that support everything from health to housing, such as elder care, telemedicine, workforce reentry, and mental health support.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n\u201cAt this point we&#8217;re balancing what other needs there are here in the community with what needs we&#8217;re seeing directly from our shareholder and descendant applicants,\u201d Tyler said.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nOther regional corporations, such as Chugach and Doyon, are still determining how they will distribute the funds.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nMore information will be available in the coming months, as the corporations fine tune their plans.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n <a href=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2021\/09\/27\/indian-country-today-alaska-native-corporations-finally-receive-covid-19-funds\/caresactancs\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-16218\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1234\" height=\"920\" data-attachment-id=\"16218\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2021\/09\/27\/indian-country-today-alaska-native-corporations-finally-receive-covid-19-funds\/caresactancs\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/27\/caresactancs.png\" data-orig-size=\"1234,920\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-title=\"CARES Act and Alaska Native Corporations\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;CARES Act funding for Alaska Native corporations, in the millions of dollars. Not shown: Doyon, Ltd., and Ahtna Inc.&lt;br \/&gt;\nGraph by Meghan Sullivan, Indian Country Today&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/27\/caresactancs-1024x763.png\" src=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/27\/caresactancs.png\" alt=\"CARES Act and Alaska Native Corporations\"   class=\"size-full wp-image-16218\" \/><\/a> <figcaption class=\"figure-caption\">CARES Act funding for Alaska Native corporations, in the millions of dollars. Not shown: Doyon, Ltd., and Ahtna Inc. Graph by Meghan Sullivan, Indian Country Today<\/figcaption>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<div class=\"h5-responsive sub\">Looming Deadline<\/div>\r\nAlthough the drawn out lawsuit is resolved, CARES Act challenges still remain. Alaska Native corporations have been working on their fund deployment strategies since May of 2020. But despite this preparation time, they are still facing distribution obstacles.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nSome challenges are unique to Alaska. For one, the corporations have to circulate application information to thousands of shareholders, many of which live in extremely remote areas with unreliable broadband and internet access. This makes online application processes, like those needed for direct payments or mental health vouchers, more difficult to implement on a short timeline.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nOthers are common pandemic era challenges. Supply chain delays and operational lulls make any sort of distribution difficult, says Tyler.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n\u201cA higher infection rate among Alaska Native population, extreme delays to the global supply chain, and a strain on our rural social support services are just some of the realities we as Alaska Native people are up against as we race to meet the spending deadline,\u201d read a statement from the Alaska Native Corporation Regional Association.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nThese logistical complications might have been manageable on their own, given that the corporations are used to operating over vast distances and shaky digital connections. But the looming December 31 deadline to use CARES Act resources makes already existing difficulties much worse. The corporations only found out this summer how much money they\u2019d be receiving. Now, they\u2019ll have to distribute those assets within a few months, while other organizations that received the relief funds were given over a year to do so.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n\u201cThere are still Alaska Native corporations that have not received their funds. It\u2019s an extraordinary challenge that we&#8217;re facing in Alaska right now,\u201d Hegna said.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nWhile the corporations rush to distribute resources in time, COVID has resurfaced in Alaska. The state now has the highest case rate per capita of any U.S. state, putting additional stressors on an already at-risk community.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nSeveral corporations are calling on Congress to extend the deadline in light of the struggles.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n\u201cAn extension would allow some of those supply chain bottlenecks to break up a little bit, and provide the most benefit for the people and organizations that need it up here,\u201d Tyler said.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n <a href=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2021\/09\/27\/indian-country-today-alaska-native-corporations-finally-receive-covid-19-funds\/caresactancstimeline\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-16220\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1258\" height=\"613\" data-attachment-id=\"16220\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2021\/09\/27\/indian-country-today-alaska-native-corporations-finally-receive-covid-19-funds\/caresactancstimeline\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/27\/caresactancstimeline.png\" data-orig-size=\"1258,613\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-title=\"CARES Act Litigation\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;A timeline of the CARES Act litigation. Image courtesy of the Alaska Native Regional Corporation Association&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/27\/caresactancstimeline-1024x499.png\" src=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/27\/caresactancstimeline.png\" alt=\"CARES Act Litigation\"   class=\"size-full wp-image-16220\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"figure-caption\"> A timeline of the CARES Act litigation. Image courtesy of the Alaska Native Regional Corporation Association<\/figcaption>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<div class=\"h5-responsive sub\">Payout Disparities<\/div>\r\nAs the corporations focus on providing resources before the deadline, others\u2019 attention has been directed at drastic differences in CARES Act payouts. \r\n<p><\/p>\r\nAlaska Native corporations received nearly $450 million in relief funds in total. However, this amount wasn\u2019t split evenly between the state\u2019s regional and village corporations. \r\n<p><\/p>\r\nIn certain cases, the variance is stark: the regional corporation Sealaska only received $4.2 million, even though they have the most shareholders. In comparison, the regional corporation CIRI received around $112 million. The allocation translates to roughly $12,000 per shareholder, if they were to use the entire amount for direct dividends.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nThe imbalance is clear on the village corporation level as well. Yak-Tat Kwaan, Inc, a village corporation in the southeast community Yakutat, said their allocation was around $164,000, while the village corporation Kootznoowoo, Inc. only received around $168,625. Meanwhile, the urban corporation Goldbelt, Inc. collected nearly $11.1 million \u2014 significantly more than its peer companies, and more than double the amount that the larger regional corporation Sealaska received. Goldbelt has around 4,000 shareholders, while Yak-Tat Kwaan has around 500 and Kootznoowoo has around 450, compared to Sealaska&#8217;s 20,000 shareholders.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nOn social media, shareholders voiced their concerns and confusion about the contrasting numbers. Considering the range in payout amounts and shareholder numbers, the direct relief dividends will look different in each region. Some will receive less than $150 in aid, while others will collect upwards of $1,000. \r\n<p><\/p>\r\nNeither corporate leaders nor Alaskan\u2019s delegation knew how the funds would be distributed before the state received them. Some Alaskans had assumed it would be based on shareholder population size, seeing as those corporations have more people to look out for. Others speculated that it might be related to the revenue of the corporation, since those with larger profits could potentially provide more benefits to shareholders without assistance.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-conversation=\"none\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Find the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Yellen v. Confederated Tribes of Chehalis Reservation here. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/SupremeCourt?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#SupremeCourt<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/CARESAct?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#CARESAct<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/CoronavirusReliefFund?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#CoronavirusReliefFund<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/COVID19?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#COVID19<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Coronavirus?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Coronavirus<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/SelfDetermination?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#SelfDetermination<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Sovereignty?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Sovereignty<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/LaIhtt54W2\">https:\/\/t.co\/LaIhtt54W2<\/a><\/p>&mdash; indianz.com (@indianz) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/indianz\/status\/1408434584094654473?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 25, 2021<\/a><\/blockquote> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nIn the end, neither theory was correct. The formula was determined by the Treasury Department, and involved the same criteria used to allocate funding to tribes in the Lower 48 and Alaska. An announcement from the department says the payouts were based on factors such as employee base and total housing services provided, but a complete overview wasn\u2019t provided. \r\n<p><\/p>\r\nThe Treasury\u2019s allocation process left some with questions. Nathan McCowan, Tlingit and Haida, who is chair of the Alaska Native Village Corporation Association, told Alaska Public Media that requests for more information have gone unanswered.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n\u201cThey were translucent, but not transparent,\u201d he said.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nThe department also declined an invitation to meet with Koniag about the topic, according to Hegna.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n\u201cKoniag is incredibly grateful for the assistance that we received through the CARES Act. We&#8217;re not seeking to challenge the allocation, but simply to understand the methodology that was used,\u201d she explained.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nThe Department of Treasury confirmed they used the same formula for Alaska Native corporations as <a href=https:\/\/indiancountrytoday.com\/news\/relief-money-for-tribes>they did for tribes<\/a>, which was based on population numbers listed in the Department of Housing and Urban Development in connection with the Indian Housing Block Grant program, and modeled off of Census data.\r\n<P><\/p>\r\nBut while the differences in payments may initially be shocking, it doesn\u2019t paint the entire picture.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nOne may need to look beyond individual allocations to get a sense of the CARES Act funding\u2019s total impact on the community.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nDonations that didn\u2019t go to individual dividends could help the population at large. For example, CIRI received the highest CARES funding amount, but they also serve the most populated part of the state, including Anchorage, the largest city. Subsequently, their program donations have the potential to benefit thousands, according to a CIRI representative.\r\n<p><\/p><div class=\"mt-1 mb-1\"><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block; text-align:center;\" data-ad-layout=\"in-article\" data-ad-format=\"fluid\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-8411603009680747\" data-ad-slot=\"6394965691\"><\/ins><script>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/script><\/div><p><\/p>\r\nSome funding will also bolster pre-existing work between the corporations, tribes, and health consortiums. Take Koniag, which plans to donate $1 million towards their regional tribal health organization to cover much needed covid-19 vaccinations and testing costs.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nPerhaps most notably, many regional corporation shareholders will also be receiving individual dividends from their tribe and \/ or village corporation. This could explain why regional corporations like Sealaska received a lower amount. As a Sealaska press release pointed out, their region received federal relief \u2014 just through different channels, since much of it was directed to tribes.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n\u201cFunding flowed to our region to benefit our people \u2013 it just flowed primarily through tribes rather than through Sealaska. Some have asked why CIRI and Doyon received so much more than Sealaska. The reason is that in their large population centers, they provide more of the housing-related services in their regions,\u201d a Sealaska press release said. In Sealaska\u2019s Southeast region, tribes are the major provider of Alaska Native housing services, rather than non-profits connected to the corporations. In this case, their tribes may have received a significant portion of the CARES Act funding rather than the corporations, while in other regions it was opposite &#8212; the corporations received more funding while the tribes received less. Either way, the funding is benefitting the same populations, just through different distribution channels.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nDespite potential financial imbalances between the regions, Hegna views the long-awaited CARES Act funding as a critical win for the entire Alaska Native community.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n\u201cWe are so happy for every fund that all of our sister regional corporations and village corporations received \u2014 because those funds were needed, and they&#8217;re going to help our Alaska Native people,\u201d she said. \r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<div class=\"h5-responsive sub\">U.S. Supreme Court Decision: Yellen v. Confederated Tribes of Chehalis Reservation <\/div>\r\n<a href=https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/25\/20-543-syllabus.pdf>Syllabus<\/a> |\r\n<a href=https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/25\/20-543-opinion.pdf>Opinion [Sotomayor]<\/a> | <a href=https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/25\/20-543-gorsuch.pdf>Dissent [Gorsuch]<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/25\/20-543_3e04.pdf\">Full Document<\/a> \r\n<P><\/P>\r\n<HR><EM>Meghan Fate Sullivan, Koyukon Athabascan, is a former Stanford Rebele Fellow turned special correspondent for Indian Country Today, currently reporting on and producing <a href=https:\/\/indiancountrytoday.com\/tag\/ancsa-50>ICT\u2019s ANCSA 50 project<\/a>. She grew up in Alaska, and reports on her home state from our Anchorage Bureau. Follow her on <a href=https:\/\/twitter.com\/mfatesully>Twitter  @mfatesully<\/a>.<\/em><HR>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<strong>This story originally <a href=https:\/\/indiancountrytoday.com\/news\/following-the-coronavirus-relief-funds-in-alaska>appeared on Indian Country Today<\/a>, a nonprofit news organization. Will you support their work? All of ICT&#8217;s content is free. There are no subscriptions or costs. And ICT has hired more Native journalists in the past year than any news organization \u2500 and with your help we will continue to grow and create career paths for our people. <a href=https:\/\/support.indiancountrytoday.com\/>Support Indian Country Today for as little as $10<\/a>.<\/strong>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Alaska Native corporations are figuring out how to distribute the funds more than a year after the CARES Act lawsuit started.","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16223,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[10,19,20,13,1,14],"tags":[78,79,80,74,3,696,1217,129,84,89],"class_list":["post-16215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-health","category-indian-trust","category-law","category-national","category-politics","tag-alaska","tag-alaska-native","tag-ancs","tag-cares-act","tag-census","tag-housing","tag-hud","tag-ict","tag-supreme-court","tag-treasury","no-wpautop"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcoJ7g-4dx","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/27\/alaskanativeyouth-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16215"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16215\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16223"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}