The United States Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) said that it is distributing $20 million in emergency funding to more than a dozen Alaska Native communities in response to shortages of essential supplies and urgent infrastructure needs.
The lion’s share of the funding, $16 million, is going to the Kuskokwim Delta coastal village of Chefornak to address the impacts of severe erosion, permafrost thaw, and failing infrastructure. According to a press release, the funds are intended to restore damaged wetlands, address unsafe structures, relocate at-risk homes, and reconstruct the community’s barge landing.
Chefornak and 15 other communities spread across a vast swath of the state will also receive a portion of an additional $4 million that the federal government is using to purchase thousands of gallons of heating fuel, along with potable water supplies and firewood.
The press release said that delayed spring barge deliveries, restricted water systems, and extreme winter conditions led to supply shortages in the communities receiving assistance.
The announcement comes as Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Billy Kirkland is in Alaska to meet with tribal leaders. Kirkland appeared alongside U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski in Anchorage and Bethel this week as part of hearings of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on federal disaster support and the question of climate-driven village relocation.
The villages receiving supplies through the emergency funding are Akiak, Ambler, Beaver, Buckland, Chefornak, Gambell, Goodnews Bay, Kiana, Kipnuk, Koyuk, Kongiganak, Kwigillingok, Newtok, Selawik, Shaktoolik and Shungnak.
