Indian Tribe Sues U.S. Government for $7.6 Million in Coronavirus Relief Funds

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Kansas Indian tribe has accused the federal government of failing to pay it $7.6 million in Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act relief funds, alleging that it used “arbitrary and capricious” population data to distribute the money to tribes.

In a Jan. 4 complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation contends that it has 4,561 citizens, but the U.S. Treasury used a census-based metric of 883 citizens when it determined that the tribe is entitled to only $2,456,89 — $7,647,063 less than the tribe would …