The National Congress of American Indians Fund is the 501(c)(3) education arm of the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), a lobbying group that represents treaty-recognized tribal governments. The NCAI and the NCAI Fund are located in Washington, D.C.¹

Background

The NCAI was founded in Denver, Colorado in 1944. The organization was formed with the intention of connecting individual American Indian and Native Alaskan tribes as an advocacy organization to resist federal legislation that would limit or terminate tribal governments.²

The NCAI was the first intertribal organization and began with representatives from 50 individual tribes. It currently represents all 573 federally recognized tribes.³

The NCAI initially established the NCAI Fund in 1949 for the purpose of accepting charitable contributions and providing educational opportunities for American Indians.  This arm soon changed their name to ARROW, Inc. and split from the NCAI in 1957, becoming an independent organization.⁴ NCAI then formed a new NCAI Fund for charity and education, its tax-exempt status becoming official in 1960.⁵

The NCAI Fund was successful in obtaining grants in its early years, primarily from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Ford Foundation, the Department of Veterans Affairs, Indian Health Service, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and humanities councils. The original primary focus of the money obtained from grants was on conferences, workshops, and publications.⁶

NCAI Fund Initiatives

In 2016, the NCAI Fund granted $854,171 to Native American Boys and Girls clubs for initiatives and salaries related to diabetes prevention of youth.⁷

In the same year, the NCAI Fund granted First Kids 1^st $533,478.⁸ First Kids 1^st is the current initiative of The Native Policy Agenda, a group of organizations and individuals with the goal of altering policy of tribal, local, and federal government in focus of the betterment of Native children. The coalition’s agenda for 2019 seeks increased funding and appropriations for programs including construction of schools to serve Native children, countering the opioid epidemic, and expanding eligibility and tribal authority over nutrition programs in the Farm Bill.⁹

The Native Policy Agenda was founded by a collaboration of the National Congress of American Indians, the National Indian Child Welfare Association, the National Indian Education Association, and the National Indian Health Board.¹⁰

The NCAI Fund also granted $189,208 to the NCAI Policy Research Center Project for building tribal data capacity in 2016.¹¹ With additional grant funding from the National Science Center, the goal of the project is to acquire more complete census data for each federally recognized tribe within the United States for purposes of future education.¹²

The NCAI Fund also reported spending $389,980 on conferences, conventions and meetings for 2016.¹³

Voter Mobilization in 2020

In the weeks leading up to the 2020 presidential election, NCAI held events encouraging people to vote, handing out voter kits, which included a T-shirt, masks, gloves, wipes, and Indian Center brochures. ¹⁴ NCAI also partnered with Business for America to promote Get-Out-The-Vote efforts in Native American communities, and provide face shields, food, beverages, and other items to tribal nations in several states in order to encourage Native Americans to vote. ¹⁵

Financials & Donors

In 2022, the NCAI Fund reported a revenue of $9,744,341, expenses of $10,964,197, and total assets of $18,110,882. ¹⁶

In 2016, The NCAI Fund received $6,593,622 in contributions and grants¹⁷. The total reported salary for all staff in 2016 was $2,403,485.¹⁸

The NCAI reports that its foundation partners include these left-wing contributors: W.K.Kellogg Foundation, George Soros’ Open Society Foundations, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the Northwest Area Foundation.¹⁹

The NCAI receives grants from the federal Departments of Agriculture, Defense, Interior, Health and Human Services, and Justice. It also receive grants from the Small Business Administration and The Environmental Protection Agency.²⁰

People

Larry Wright Jr. is the Executive Director of the NCAI, serving in the position since being appointed in September 2022. He was previously the NCAI’s Director for Leadership Engagement. He previously served as chairman of the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska from 2015 through 2021. In addition, he was the NCAI Executive Committe’s Vice President, the Board Chair of the Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs, and the Chairman of the Nebraska Inter-Tribal Coalition. ^{21 22}

Mark Macarro is the president of the NCAI, as of 2024. In addition, he is the Tribal Chairman of the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians from southern California, serving in the position since first elected in 1992. ²³

1. “National Congress of American Indians Fund.” GuideStar. https://www.guidestar.org/profile/53-6017907
2. Cowger, Thomas W. The National Congress of American Indians: The Founding Years. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1999
3. “Tribal Nations & The United States: An Introduction.” National Congress of American Indians. http://www.ncai.org/about-tribes.
4. Rachel Menyuk. “Arrow, Inc., and the American Indian Tribal Court Judges Records, 1949-1999 NMAI.AC.013.” National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center. 2011. https://americanindian.si.edu/sites/1/files/archivecenter/AC013_arrow.html.
5. “Records of the National Congress of American Indians, 1933-1990.” Smithsonian Institution. https://sova.si.edu/record/NMAI.AC.010.
6. Records of the National Congress of American Indians, 1933-1990.” Smithsonian Institution. https://sova.si.edu/record/NMAI.AC.010
7. National Congress of American Indians Fund, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2016, Schedule I, Part II Grants and Other Assistance to Domestic Organizations and Domestic Governments
8. National Congress of American Indians Fund, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2016, Schedule I, Part II Grants and Other Assistance to Domestic Organizations and Domestic Governments
9. “2018-2019 Native Children’s Policy Agenda Update.” First Kids 1st. http://firstkids1st.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/2018-2019-FK1st-NCPA-Update-FINAL.pdf.
10. “Native Children’s Policy Agenda: Putting First Kids 1st.” National Congress of American Indians. http://www.ncai.org/attachments/PolicyPaper_UallLEyZXrEoMnjffnqPGmmCUAPanEYeDcadGqySBSMBStvQCXo_Aug 2015 Native Children’s Policy Agenda.pdf.
11. National Congress of American Indians Fund, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2016, Schedule I, Part II Grants and Other Assistance to Domestic Organizations and Domestic Governments
12. National Congress of American Indians. “Recommendations from Tribal Experiences with Tribal Censuses and Surveys.” NCAI Policy Research Center. October 2017. http://www.ncai.org/policy-research-center/initiatives/Tribal_Experiences_10_31_2017_FINAL.pdf.
13. National Congress of American Indians Fund, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2016, Part IX, Statement of Functional Expenses, Line 19
14. Krol, Debra Utacia. Protecting the Native vote: How Election Day played out in Indian Country, November 7, 2020. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/protecting-the-native-vote-how-election-day-played-out-in-indian-country/ar-BB1aL6Oz.
15. “Business for America Unites with National Congress of American Indians’ Native Vote Efforts to Support 2020 Election.” BFA Website, October 26, 2020. https://www.bfa.us/press-releases/business-for-america-unites-with-national-congress-of-american-indians-native-vote-efforts-to-support-2020-election.
16. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). National Congress of American Indians Fund. 2022. Part I. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/536017907/202323199349330762/full
17. National Congress of American Indians Fund, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2016, Part I, Summary, Line 8
18. National Congress of American Indians Fund, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2016, Part IX, Statement of Functional Expenses, Lines 5-7
19. “Our Supporters.” National Congress of American Indians. http://www.ncai.org/about-ncai/our-supporters.
20. “Our Supporters.” National Congress of American Indians. http://www.ncai.org/about-ncai/our-supporters.
21. “NCAI Leadership.” National Congress Of American Indians, Accessed February 2, 2024. https://www.ncai.org/about-ncai/ncai-leadership
22. “Larry Wright Jr.” LinkedIn, Accessed February 2, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/larry-wright-jr-48728510a
23. “NCAI Leadership.” National Congress Of American Indians, Accessed February 2, 2024. https://www.ncai.org/about-ncai/ncai-leadership