Yeego Connect

Program supports development of new tribal tourism businesses, recovery from pandemic for existing businesses.

Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Bryan Newland announced today that the Indian Affairs Office of Indian Economic Development is soliciting applications for its Fiscal Year 2022 Tribal Tourism Grant Program.

In an effort to improve tribal input and consultation with the federal government, the American Indian Alaska Native Tourism Association (AIANTA) and the National Park Service (NPS) and) have entered into a cooperative agreement to help facilitate regular, robust and meaningful dialogue between Tribes and the NPS.

The cooperative agreement was entered into on Wednesday at the 23rd Annual American Indian Tourism Conference that is in session at the We-Ko-Pa Casino Resort in Fort McDowell, Ariz.

The Office of Indian Economic Development within the Bureau of Indian Affairs has awarded $2.1 million in tourism grants to 18 tribes and two Native Hawaiian Organizations.

The grants, awarded under the BIA’s Tribal Tourism Grants Program, will primarily fund feasibility studies and business plans for a range of tourism projects, according to the OIED. Native American tribal grantees will split $1.5 million in funding, while $600,000 will go to two Native Hawaiian Organization projects. 

On April 13, Indian Affairs announced that the Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development has published a proposed rule to establish the Indian Business Incubators Program under the Native American Business Incubators Program Act of 2020. The proposed rule sets out who is eligible for the program, how to apply, how the IEED will evaluate applications and make awards, and how it will administer the program. 

On April 23, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and Domestic Policy Advisor Susan Rice will convene the first White House Council on Native American Affairs meeting of the Biden-Harris administration. Secretary Haaland will serve as the Council’s Chair.