Dakota tribes receive federal housing aid

WASHINGTON - Several Native American tribes in the Dakotas have been granted millions of federal government dollars for affordable housing projects.

In all, a total of more than $65 million was allocated to 22 tribes in the three states by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

In North Dakota, three tribes received more than $5 million each, while four tribes in Minnesota were allocated more than $3 million apiece. South Dakota has three tribes with more than $5 million each in assistance, including $12 million to the Oglala Lakota Sioux Tribe.

The funds, part of the Indian Housing Block Grant, are intended to benefit low-income families living on Indian reservations or in other American Indian and Alaska Native communities, according to a press release. Each grant amount is based on a formula that considers local needs and housing units under management by the tribe or designated entity.

The Housing and Urban Development's proposed 2017 budget seeks $700 million for the housing grants, which is $50 million above the 2016 level, according to the release.

Funds granted to the tribes were:

North Dakota

-- Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, $7.5 million

-- Standing Rock Sioux, $5.2 million

-- Three Affiliated Tribes of Fort Berthold, $5.1 million

-- Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe, $2.6 million

South Dakota

-- Oglala Lakota Sioux Tribe, $12 million

-- Rosebud Sioux Tribe, $8 million

-- Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, $5.5 million

-- Sisseton Wahpeton Sioux Tribe, $3.6 million

-- Yankton Sioux Tribe, $2.2 million

-- Crow Creek Sioux Tribe, $1.8 million

-- Lower Brule Sioux Tribe, $1.3 million

-- Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe, $340,000

A complete list of grant recipients can be found at http://1.usa.gov/1SUWCUI .