Policy Brief
The COVID‐19 pandemic has wrought havoc in Indian Country. While the American people as a whole have borne extreme pain and suffering, and the transition back to “normal” will be drawn out and difficult, the First Peoples of America arguably have suffered the most severe and most negative consequences of all. The highest rates of positive COVID‐19 cases have been found among American Indian tribes, but that is only part of the story.
Even before the pandemic, the average household income for Native Americans living on Indian reservations was barely half the U.S. average. Then the pandemic effectively shut down the economies of many tribal nations. In the process, tribal governments’ primary sources of the funding – which are needed to fight the pandemic and to meet citizens’ needs – have been decimated.
As with the rest of the U.S., emergency and interim support from the CARES Act and other federal measures have helped to dampen the social and economic harm of the COVID‐19 crisis in Indian Country. Yet this assistance has come to the country’s 574 federally recognized Indian tribes with litigation‐driven delay and counterproductive strings attached, and against a pre‐ pandemic background characterized by federal government underfunding and neglect – especially as compared to the funding provided and attention paid to state and local governments.
Media Release
The national awards program Honoring Nations, flagship program of the Harvard Project, announces the recipients of the 2025 Honoring Nations Awards, recognizing 6 governmental initiatives for outstanding excellence in tribal self-governance.
Policy Brief
Harvard Kennedy School researchers release global scoping review finding Indigenous conservation practices achieve equal or superior results in biodiversity protection, wildfire management and sustainable management of natural resources
Book
From the Harvard Project on Indigenous Governance and Development comes an updated third edition of a data book providing summary statistics for American Indian tribal communities in the lower 48 states using the public-use US Census and the American Community Survey data.
Media Release
The national awards program Honoring Nations, flagship program of the Harvard Project, announces the recipients of the 2025 Honoring Nations Awards, recognizing 6 governmental initiatives for outstanding excellence in tribal self-governance.
Policy Brief
Harvard Kennedy School researchers release global scoping review finding Indigenous conservation practices achieve equal or superior results in biodiversity protection, wildfire management and sustainable management of natural resources
Book
From the Harvard Project on Indigenous Governance and Development comes an updated third edition of a data book providing summary statistics for American Indian tribal communities in the lower 48 states using the public-use US Census and the American Community Survey data.
