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1 1 (July 20, 2021)

handle is hein.crs/govedzw0001 and id is 1 raw text is: ACongressional ______ *aResearch Service informing the I gislative d bate since 1914___________________ Supreme Court Holds Alaska Native Corporations Are Indian Tribes Entitled to CARES Act Funds July 20, 2021 On June 25, 2021, in Yellen v. Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Indian Reservation (Chehalis), the Supreme Court rejected a challenge to the Department of the Treasury's (Treasury) decision to distribute to the Alaska Native Corporations (ANCs) approximately $450 million of the $8 billion in funds allocated to Tribal governments under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). The challengers had argued that ANCs do not satisfy the CARES Act's definition of Indian tribe, which is drawn from the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (ISDEAA). The Supreme Court's decision reverses the judgment of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit interpreting the ISDEAA definition of Indian tribe as a term of art that, while expressly mentioning ANCs, excludes them by separately requiring federal recognition. The Supreme Court rejected that interpretation and held that the plain meaning of the ISDEAA definition of Indian tribe includes ANCs because they are recognized as eligible for a wide array of benefits and services under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA), and the required recognition is of an entity's eligibility for federal Indian programs and services, not a government-to-government relationship with the United States. An earlier Legal Sidebar previewed the oral argument in Chehalis. This Legal Sidebar summarizes the statutory background and prior litigation in the case before discussing the Supreme Court's decision and related considerations for Congress. Statutory Background Chehalis involved a regulatory scheme established by statutes including ANCSA, ISDEAA, the List Act, and the CARES Act. Congress enacted ANCSA in 1971 to settle Alaska Natives' aboriginal land claims. To that end, ANCSA extinguished all aboriginal claims to land in Alaska and terminated all but one of the existing reservations in the state. In exchange, Congress transferred 44 million acres of Alaska land and $962.5 million to the two types of ANCs established in the statute-Alaska Native Regional Corporations (of which there are now 12 out of an original 13) and Alaska Native Village Corporations (of which there are almost 200). Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov LSB10626 CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress

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