Overview:
Key takeaways
• After historic investments into Tribal nations, citizens, and communities following the COVID-19 pandemic, recent federal policy actions have slashed funding for Native Americans. These cuts violate the government’s trust and treaty obligations and exacerbate critical investment needs in Indian Country.
• Investment into Indian Country can benefit both Native and non-Native Americans; for example, every dollar invested in Tribal Colleges and Universities returns $1.60 in tax revenue and public sector savings.
• Just 0.88% of foundation and corporate philanthropic investment in the U.S. goes to Native serving causes or organizations, and only 0.51% goes to exclusively Native-serving causes or organizations.
• Policymakers and philanthropy can bolster Tribal investment by better utilizing mandatory congressional funding, making Native-specific federal investment data more accessible, and reforming philanthropic approaches to investing in Native causes.
Despite historic federal investments in Tribal nations following the COVID-19 pandemic, a new report released today by Brookings Metro and the American Indian College Fund finds that funding for Native communities continues to fall far short of their needs, while philanthropic giving to Native causes remains disproportionately low.
The report, “Underinvestment in Indian Country: How federal and philanthropic funding to Native Americans falls short, and how to fix it,” by Robert Maxim (Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe), Glencora Haskins and Danika Grieser, examines federal and philanthropic investments in American Indian and Alaska Native communities.
The authors conclude that recent federal funding reductions have widened longstanding investment gaps in Indian Country and argue that both policymakers and philanthropic organizations need to significantly increase their support.
“Recent fiscal policy decisions have moved it further away” from meeting the full funding needs of Tribal communities, the report states.
Historic pandemic investments followed by cuts
Federal spending on Indian Country increased dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic. Between fiscal years 2020 and 2021, federal spending benefiting Native Americans more than doubled.
Congress also enacted major legislation that provided new investments for Tribal communities, including the American Rescue Plan Act, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act.
Those investments supported areas including infrastructure, health, education, clean energy and economic development.
But much of the increased funding did not become a sustained new baseline.
After emergency pandemic spending ended, funding for Indian Country returned to roughly its pre-pandemic, inflation-adjusted level in fiscal years 2022 and 2023. Funding increased again by 33 percent between fiscal years 2023 and 2024, driven in part by advance appropriations for the Indian Health Service and funding from major federal laws.
At the same time, overall federal nondefense spending per person remained significantly above its 2019 level, while per-capita spending on Native Americans returned to pre-pandemic levels.
The report says the disparity demonstrates that increases in overall federal spending have not consistently translated into increased investment in Indian Country.
Federal investment remains far below need
The report points to several areas where federal funding falls dramatically short of identified needs.
In 2024, the federal government invested approximately $41.5 million in Native American language revitalization — less than 3 percent of the government’s own estimated annual need of $1.5 billion.
The disparity is even more pronounced in Indian health care. The National Tribal Budget Formulation Workgroup estimates that the Indian Health Service requires approximately $73 billion annually to meet the health care needs of Native people, compared with an enacted IHS budget of $7.1 billion in fiscal year 2024.
The authors note that there is no single estimate of the total federal investment shortfall across all areas of Indian Country. However, previous studies have quantified significant unmet needs in specific areas.
The report argues that a more systematic approach is needed to measure those gaps.
Philanthropy also falls short
Private philanthropy has not made up for the federal funding shortfall.
According to the report, only 0.88 percent of foundation and corporate philanthropic funding in 2024 went to grants serving Native communities or causes.
The percentage drops to just 0.51 percent for grants that exclusively served Native communities or causes.
That level of giving is below the Native share of the U.S. population, which Census Bureau estimates place between 1 percent and 2.7 percent, depending on the population measure used.
The report concludes that philanthropy has consistently failed to invest in Native communities at a rate commensurate with their population share.
The size of individual grants also illustrates the problem. The average 2024 grant to Native-exclusive causes was $111,200, but the median grant was only $20,000. That means half of the grants were smaller than $20,000, suggesting that a relatively small number of organizations received a substantial portion of philanthropic funding directed toward Native causes.
Investment in Indian Country benefits everyone
The report emphasizes that greater investment in Tribal communities is not solely a benefit to Native people.
For example, every dollar invested in Tribal Colleges and Universities generates an estimated $1.60 in tax revenue and public-sector savings.
The authors argue that investments in Tribal nations can produce broader economic and public benefits for Native and non-Native Americans alike.
Three ways to strengthen investment
The report recommends three broad changes to improve funding for Indian Country.
First, Congress should make greater use of mandatory funding when supporting Native programs. Mandatory funding can provide more stability and help reduce the year-to-year fluctuations that have characterized federal investment.
Second, the federal government should make data on investments benefiting Tribal nations, citizens and communities more accessible. Better data would allow policymakers and Tribal leaders to more accurately identify funding gaps and measure progress.
Third, philanthropic organizations should reform how they invest in Native causes, increasing both the amount of funding directed to Indian Country and the accessibility of that funding for Native-serving organizations.
The report also proposes a framework for measuring investment needs that includes establishing a baseline using Native and non-Native comparisons, tracking federal investment over time to calculate cumulative unmet needs, and supplementing quantitative analysis with interviews that capture the unique needs of Native communities.
The authors say these steps could provide a more consistent way to assess investment needs across Indian Country.
A persistent funding gap
The report’s central conclusion is that Tribal nations, Native citizens and communities have experienced both sustained underfunding and significant fluctuations in federal and philanthropic support.
While the post-pandemic period demonstrated that substantial federal investment in Indian Country is possible, the authors warn that temporary increases do not address longstanding structural funding gaps.
“Policymakers should act quickly to reverse harmful funding cuts affecting Native Americans,” the report concludes, while philanthropic leaders should scale up their investments in Native communities and causes.
The report was developed with support from the American Indian College Fund through funding from the MacArthur Foundation and Henry Luce Foundation, with contributions from researchers and advisors from organizations including Harvard University, the University of Arizona, American Indian Higher Education Consortium and Native Americans in Philanthropy.
