The Sovereignty Fund

The Sovereignty Fund is a direct response to this moment.

In 2025, Tribal Nations are facing unprecedented threats: federal funding cuts, attacks on sacred lands, rollbacks of hard-won protections, and increasing political attempts to undermine sovereignty. These aren’t abstract policy shifts—they are putting Native lives, lands, and governments at risk.

The Sovereignty Fund is a Tribal-led solution, built within the NCAI Foundation and guided by formal resolutions passed by over 574 Tribal Nations. It’s not charity — it’s self-determined resourcing. This fund supports urgent legal action, environmental defense, leadership development, and critical infrastructure in Native communities.

NCAI is the voice of Tribal Nations. Unlike traditional philanthropic models, this fund doesn’t go through layers of intermediaries. It moves directly to where it’s needed most — based on priorities set by Tribes themselves.

Every dollar you give supports Native-led solutions to protect land, language, youth, water, and governance. Your support helps make sure Tribal Nations can act quickly, with strength, vision, and sovereignty.

Join us in resourcing Native Power. Give to the Sovereignty Fund.

Tribal sovereignty will endure. The Sovereignty Fund was created to move resources — fast and with integrity — to where Tribal Nations say they are needed most.

Through the participatory resolution process at NCAI, Tribal leaders set national priorities across issue areas like public safety, climate justice, broadband, and child welfare. These resolutions guide our funding decisions. In recent months, we’ve already awarded rapid-response grants to support Native women’s safety, protect ancestral lands, and amplify Tribal leadership in environmental defense.

This work meets real needs:

• Native youth have the highest suicide rate of any demographic in the U.S.— up to 2.5 times the national average.

• One in three Native women will experience sexual violence in her lifetime.

• Over 70% of Native people live in areas with limited or no access to mental health care.

• Native households are 19 times more likely than white households to lack indoor plumbing.

• Native students face the lowest high school graduation rate of any racial or ethnic group.

• In some Tribal communities, life expectancy is 10–20 years shorter than the U.S. average.

Funds are administered through the NCAI Foundation using a trust-based approach — minimizing red tape, maximizing speed and ensuring accountability to the 574+ sovereign Tribal governments we serve.

This is not theory. It’s happening. And it’s working.