Considering the current public health crisis, the National Indian Council on Aging (NICOA) is participating in various virtual events focused on issues important to our communities during this pandemic. Using a virtual format allows us to continue to serve our mission while protecting communities and following the Centers for Disease Control and World Health Organization’s guidelines on physical distancing.

Executive Director Larry Curley will join American Society on Aging president and CEO Peter Kaldes as he hosts a series of conference calls with leaders in the field to share their strategies to cope with the challenges brought about by COVID-19. The series, entitled “ Future Proof,” is now in its summer season and will center around the subjects of equity and justice.

Tune in at 10 a.m. PT,  Thursday, August 6 as Kaldes speaks with Curley about issues of equity and justice and how they intersect with his work with older adults in the Navajo Nation. The episode, “Racial Disparities and Racist Reactions to COVID-19, Plus Aiming for Equity in the Navajo Nation”, will also address the recent resurgences in racism against members of the Navajo Nation in New Mexico due to the pandemic.

Register here. Check our website for announcements about future webinars and calls.

“Resilience for Tomorrow…Together” is the theme of the  American Indian Elders Conference, which has been postponed to August 1-6, 2021. The conference will still take place in Reno, Nevada, at the Nugget Casino Resort, alongside the 2021 National Title VI Training & Technical Assistance Conference.

The health and wellbeing of our elders is the most important concern for us during this challenging time. We are sorry to have to postpone the conference for a year, but this will make it an even better one to attend.

All monies paid for membership dues and registration fees will be transferred to the upcoming conference dates, as well as the hotel information and pricing. The Nugget Casino Resort has been very helpful in securing those dates for us.

There will be new information  available online and sent to individuals that have already sent in their  2020-2021 NICOA membership dues, with updated deadlines for the conference registration and documents needed for the conference.

If you have any questions, please  email Cheryl J. Archibald or  Leslie Maly, or leave us a message at (505) 292-2001. The NICOA staff is currently working from home, with four staff members in the office each day to serve our elders as best we can.

Membership with NICOA offers many valuable benefits. As a paid member, you will receive NICOA’s online bimonthly newsletter, legislative updates on important issues and resolutions affecting elders, voting privileges for qualified members and discounted registration fees for qualified members to attend our biennial conferences.

Be an important part of a national membership network and become a NICOA member by applying online or by mail.

As you make financial decisions in tough times, it is important to understand how credit works and how your credit report can affect your choices. Credit reports are records of your financial health and are the basis for credit scores. Your credit history can impact your ability to get a loan and how much you will be charged. It can also affect your ability to get a job or find housing.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the three national credit reporting companies – Equifax, Experian and TransUnion – are now offering consumers  free weekly online credit reports through April 2021. The reports, available on AnnualCreditReport.com, are being made available to all Americans to offer protection as many face financial hardship due to the coronavirus.

The U.S. Supreme Court has finally ruled that a large portion of eastern Oklahoma remains the reservation land of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. In the 5-4 decision, the Court ruled that Congress never explicitly “disestablished” the 1866 boundaries of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation.

The Muscogee had lost nearly half their lands in a Reconstruction treaty, and over the following decades they were splintered off and sold to private owners. State officials began denying that there had ever been a Creek reservation on the land that became Oklahoma.

“This ruling is a landmark decision for Muscogee Creek Nation. … I thank God that the Supreme Court ruled in our favor,” said  Lillian Thomas, a member of the Muscogee Creek Nation who has served on the National Indian Council on Aging’s  board of directors for over three years. “Our ancestors, who walked the trail from Georgia and Alabama, were forced to give up their beloved land in exchange for a reservation in Indian Territory. They endured hardships by being uprooted and were driven like cattle to land promised to them. This area was a reservation promised to them as long as there was a tribal government.”

The Shawnee Tribe, which is headquartered in Miami, filed a federal lawsuit against U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin last month, alleging the tribe was stiffed about $6 million in Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act relief funds. The federal treasury had based its distribution on a database that incorrectly listed the Shawnee Tribe's tribal enrollment as zero when it actually has 3,021 tribal citizens, the lawsuit states.

In the Shawnee Tribe's federal lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma, the tribe claims the U.S. Treasury Department disregarded the tribe’s population data and instead used HUD Indian Housing Block Grant data that doesn’t count tribal members who live off the reservation. Although HUD maintains enrollment population data for tribes, it is for the sole purpose of calculation and distributing HUD funds, which the Shawnee Tribe does not receive, according to the filing.

Since the tribe doesn't receive Indian Housing Block Grant funds, the federal housing agency had its population and the populations of 25 other tribes listed as zero, which the tribe described as a "practical impossibility." As a result of this error, the tribe only received $100,000 — the minimum relief funding for tribes — versus the $6 million it would have received based on its official enrollment. The Treasury Department chose to use the erroneous housing-based numbers even though the tribe had provided an accurate count, the Shawnee Tribe said.