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National Congress of American Indians

Ncai banner (link)
Website:

www.ncai.org
Location:

WASHINGTON, DC
Tax ID:

53-0210846
Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(3)

Budget (2016):

Revenue: $3,513,058
Expenses: $2,364,302
Assets: $8,811,308

The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) is an advocacy group representing the interests of tribal governments. It was founded in 1944 to connect individual American Indian and Native Alaskan tribes, in order to oppose federal legislation that would limit tribal sovereignty or terminate tribal governments. NCAI began with 80 representatives from 50 tribes1 and currently represents all 573 federally recognized tribes. 2

The National Congress of American Indians Fund is a separate 501(c)(3) organization that acts as the education and grant-making arm of NCAI. 3

Background

The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) was founded to connect individual American Indian and Native Alaskan tribes together as an advocacy organization to oppose federal legislation that would limit the sovereignty of or terminate tribal governments. Created in 1944, the NCAI began with 80 representatives from 50 tribes,4 and currently represents all 573 federally recognized tribes. 5

The organization’s policy issues and initiatives are created and voted on by delegates chosen by the tribes and are meant to be the unified voice of tribal nations. 6

Funding

The NCAI is partly funded by its membership, which is open to recognized tribes and individuals both with and without American Indian ancestry. Only members of a recognized Indian tribe are eligible to submit and vote on resolutions, and to vote for the organization’s Executive Committee. Membership dues are currently $40 per year, or $1,000 for a lifetime membership. 7

The NCAI receives support from the federal government including the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Defense, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Department of the Interior, and the Department of Justice. 8 The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) partners with NCAI in the Environmental Information Exchange Network, an online network that shares environmental data with tribes, states, and territories. 9

The NCAI receives grants from left-wing foundations like the Ford Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), and George Soros’ Open Society Foundations (OSF). 10 CNAI has received over $26 million in funding from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. 11

Issue Advocacy

While National Congress of American Indians is one of the main advocates of issues specific to Indian governance, it has taken strong positions on other key political issues. 12

NCAI issued a 2017 resolution in support of the Paris Climate Agreement, has after the Trump administration announced plans to withdraw the U.S. from the accord. 13

NCAI supported former President Barack Obama’s proposed American Jobs Act, which on the surface proposed to create jobs by offering tax cuts to small businesses, and an extension of the payroll tax cut. 14 In actuality, the proposal would have increased infrastructure spending, and taxes on the middle class. The bill was not supported by moderate Democrats, and did not pass. 15

In a 2018 Resolution, NCAI affirmed its position to restrict commercial activity in the Pacific Ocean, especially as it relates to offshore drilling. 16

Voter Mobilization

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. 17 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. 18

People

Kevin Allis is the Chief Executive Officer of NCAI. He is previously the Executive Director of the Native American Contractors Association, Board Chairman of the Potawatomi Business Development Corporation, and founder of Thunderbird Strategies, a government relations firm. 19

Jefferson Keel, the Lieutenant Governor of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma, is president of NCAI. He has  served on the Board of the Center for Native American Youth and on the Tribal Law and Order Commission. Keel has previously served on multiple committees within the federal government, including the Tribal Budget, and Self-Governance Advisory Committees of the Interior Department, the Tribal Consultation Advisory Committee of the Centers for Disease Control, the Tribal Advisory Group of the Department of Justice, and the Secretary’s Tribal, and Indian Health Service Policy Advisory Committees of the Department of Health and Human Services. 20

Aaron Payment, the Chairman of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, is the 1st Vice President of NCAI and previously served on the National Advisory Council on Indian Education, part of the Department of Education. He was part of the Negotiated Rule Making Team for the Every Student Succeeds Act, which passed in 2015. 21 Payment also serves on the Department of Health and Human Services Tribal Advisory Council. 22

Juana Majel‐Dixon serves as the NCAI Secretary and is the chair of the NCAI Task Force on Violence Against Women, which lobbied for the re‐authorization of the Violence Against Women Act in 2005. 23 She has served on the Department of the Interior Task Force of Trust Reform during the administrations of both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. She is the California representative to the Department of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA), and Co-chair of the Department of Justice Tribal Justice Advisory Group. 24

In 2019, the longtime executive director of NCAI, Jaqueline Pata, resigned. Pata had been suspended in 2018 amid a review of the organization’s handling of staff misconduct complaints;25 while she returned to her position, she stepped aside in 2019 after the selection of Allis as chief executive. 26

Coalition Memberships

Donor Organizations

Affiliated Organizations

References

  1. “Mission & History.” National Congress of American Indians. 2019. Accessed September 16, 2019. http://www.ncai.org/about-ncai/mission-history
  2. “Tribal Nations & the United States: An Introduction.” National Congress of American Indians. 2019. Accessed September 16, 2019. http://www.ncai.org/about-tribes
  3. “National Congress of American Indians Fund.” Accessed September 16, 2019. https://www.guidestar.org/profile/53-6017907
  4. “Mission & History.” National Congress of American Indians. 2019. Accessed September 16, 2019. http://www.ncai.org/about-ncai/mission-history
  5. “Tribal Nations & the United States: An Introduction.” National Congress of American Indians. 2019. Accessed September 16, 2019. http://www.ncai.org/about-tribes
  6. “About NCAI.” National Congress of American Indians. 2019. Accessed September 16, 2019. http://www.ncai.org/about-ncai
  7. “About Membership.” National Congress of American Indians. 2019. Accessed September 16, 2019. http://www.ncai.org/get-involved/membership
  8. “Our Supporters.” National Congress of American Indians. 2019. Accessed September 16, 2019.  http://www.ncai.org/about-ncai/our-supporters
  9. “EPA Environmental Information Exchange Network.” National Congress of American Indians. 2019. Accessed September 16, 2019.   http://www.ncai.org/initiatives/partnerships-initiatives/epa-environmental-information-exchange-network/epa-network
  10. “Our Supporters.” National Congress of American Indians. 2019. Accessed September 16, 2019.  http://www.ncai.org/about-ncai/our-supporters
  11. “Grants: National Congress of American Indians.” W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Accessed September 16, 2019. https://www.wkkf.org/grants#pp=50&p=1&q=national%20congress%20of%20american%20indians
  12. “Policy Issues.” National Congress of American Indians, 2019. Accessed October 4, 2019.  http://www.ncai.org/policy-issues.
  13. “Tribal Nations Continuing to Support Action on Climate Change and Paris Accord.” National Congress of American Indians, 2019. Accessed October 4, 2019. http://www.ncai.org/news/articles/2017/06/02/tribal-nations-continuing-to-support-action-on-climate-change-and-paris-accord.
  14. “NCAI Urges Passage of the American Jobs Act.” National Congress of American Indians, 2019. Accessed October 4, 2019. http://www.ncai.org/news/articles/2011/09/09/ncai-urges-passage-of-the-american-jobs-act.
  15. Berger, Barrie Tabin. “Congress Rejects President Obama’s American Jobs Act.” Government Finance Review, Ocotber 2011. Accessed October 4, 2019. https://gfoa.org/sites/default/files/GFR_OCT_11_59.pdf.
  16. “Opposing Offshore Drilling.” National Congress of American Indians, 2019. Accessed October 4, 2019. http://www.ncai.org/resources/resolutions/opposing-offshore-drilling.
  17. 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.
  18. “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.
  19. “Chief Executive Officer.” National Congress of American Indians, 2019. Accessed October 4, 2019.  http://www.ncai.org/about-ncai/ncai-leadership/chief-executive-officer.
  20. “Executive Board.” National Congress of American Indians, 2019. Accessed October 4, 2019. http://www.ncai.org/about-ncai/ncai-leadership/executive-board-bios.
  21. Rickert, Levi. “Sault Ste. Marie Tribal Chairperson Aaron Payment Earns Doctorate Degree.” Native News Online, September 27, 2017. Accessed October 4, 2019. https://nativenewsonline.net/currents/sault-ste-marie-tribal-chairperson-aaron-payment-earns-doctorate-degree/.
  22. “Executive Board.” National Congress of American Indians, 2019. Accessed October 4, 2019. http://www.ncai.org/about-ncai/ncai-leadership/executive-board-bios.
  23. “Presenter Biographies.” justice.gov. Accessed October 4, 2019. https://www.justice.gov/archive/tribal/docs/fv_tjs/session_1/PalmSpringsBiographies.pdf.
  24. “Executive Board.” National Congress of American Indians, 2019. Accessed October 4, 2019. http://www.ncai.org/about-ncai/ncai-leadership/executive-board-bios.
  25. National Congress of American Indians. “National Congress of American Indians Put Exec. Director on Administrative Leave.” IndianCountryToday.com, October 21, 2018. https://newsmaven.io/indiancountrytoday/news/national-congress-of-american-indians-put-exec-director-on-administrative-leave-ZhlwQM9I9kWnyLZfHHD8dA/.
  26. Bennett-Begaye, Jourdan. “NCAI Executive Director Resigns.” IndianCountryToday.com, February 19, 2019. https://newsmaven.io/indiancountrytoday/news/ncai-executive-director-resigns-Wp7v1dmcSEevDyfHEgCYAA/.

Directors, Employees & Supporters

  1. Jacqueline Pata
    Executive Director (2001-Present)

Child Organizations

  1. Native Vote (Non-profit)
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Nonprofit Information

  • Accounting Period: December - November
  • Tax Exemption Received: January 1, 1962

    • Available Filings

    Period Form Type Total revenue Total functional expenses Total assets (EOY) Total liabilities (EOY) Unrelated business income? Total contributions Program service revenue Investment income Comp. of current officers, directors, etc. Form 990
    2016 Dec Form 990 $3,513,058 $2,364,302 $8,811,308 $1,082,120 N $744,834 $2,762,234 $346 $81,778
    2015 Dec Form 990 $3,253,694 $1,849,083 $7,751,320 $1,170,888 Y $527,047 $2,711,048 $1,078 $75,125 PDF
    2014 Dec Form 990 $3,272,484 $1,684,801 $6,127,505 $951,684 Y $603,963 $2,662,400 $1,573 $130,278
    2013 Dec Form 990 $3,143,435 $1,386,513 $4,721,855 $1,133,718 Y $396,062 $2,742,629 $4,164 $29,525 PDF
    2012 Dec Form 990 $2,961,655 $1,425,763 $3,043,450 $1,212,235 N $273,000 $2,687,496 $2,318 $74,093 PDF
    2011 Dec Form 990 $3,673,870 $3,167,224 $1,472,797 $1,177,474 N $655,431 $3,017,535 $904 $52,658 PDF

    Additional Filings (PDFs)

    Map image for National Congress of American Indians

    National Congress of American Indians

    1516 P ST NW
    WASHINGTON, DC 20005-1910