Bois Forte Band Of Chippewa

The Bois Forte Band of Chippewa is a federally recognized Native American tribe located in northern Minnesota. As a sovereign tribal nation, the Bois Forte Band engages with the federal government through various contracts and grants to provide services and support for its community members. The tribe operates across multiple areas including public health, education, environmental protection, transportation, and community development. Through its governing body, the Bois Forte Reservation Tribal Council, the Band administers numerous federal programs aimed at improving quality of life and preserving cultural heritage for its approximately 3,500 enrolled members residing on the Nett Lake and Lake Vermilion reservations.

In terms of federal contracts, the Bois Forte Band has primarily engaged with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) over recent years. The tribe has held annual contracts, typically valued around $30,000, to support the EEOC's Tribal Employment Rights Office (TERO) program on the reservation. These firm-fixed price definitive contracts, awarded without set-asides, involve implementing TERO activities to promote equal employment opportunities and enforce Native American preference in hiring for reservation-based jobs. While relatively modest in scale, these contracts demonstrate the Band's capacity to partner effectively with federal agencies in delivering specialized services tailored to the local Native American community.

The Bois Forte Band has received a diverse portfolio of federal grants spanning multiple programmatic areas. Major initiatives include operating public transit services through Department of Transportation funding, with recent awards such as a $318,000 grant to implement a computer-aided dispatch system and mobile information units for its bus fleet. The Band also administers nutrition assistance and food distribution programs via USDA grants, including a $165,804 award for the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations. Other significant grant-funded efforts involve healthcare services, child care support, historic preservation, environmental protection, and public safety enhancements. Notable examples include a $160,000 block grant from the Administration for Community Living to provide supportive services for aging community members, a $328,000 award from the Administration for Children and Families for child care facility construction, and various Department of Justice grants for victim services and youth mentoring programs. Through these diverse federal partnerships, the Bois Forte Band leverages grant funding to deliver critical services and improve living conditions for its tribal members.