Officials say fallout from the federal government shutdown is hurting Native Americans as dwindling funds hamper access to health care and other services. Native American tribes rely heavily on funding guaranteed by treaties with the U.S., acts of Congress and other agreements for public safety, social services, education and health care for their members. Because of the shutdown, tribal officials say some programs are on the brink of collapse and others are surviving with tribes filling funding gaps. About 9,000 Indian Health Service employees, or 60 percent, are working without pay according to the Health and Human Services department’s shutdown plan. The agency gets money from the Interior Department, whose budget is snared by the shutdown. Another federal agency serving Native Americans, the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, was expected to furlough more than half of its over 4,000 workers, according to its contingency plan. With the shutdown now entering it’s fourth week, the strain on the tribes was expected to increase.
