Burns Paiute Tribe

Burns Paiute Tribe, a federally recognized Native American tribe headquartered in Burns, Oregon, operates as a tribal government entity that acts primarily as a federal grant recipient (85% of recent awards) and secondarily as a federal contractor on cultural resource and environmental services. The tribe competes as a tribally owned firm and self-certified small disadvantaged business with no set-aside restrictions on most work; awards span full-and-open, Indian Economic Enterprise, and sole-source procurement vehicles tied to the tribe's unique cultural expertise and sovereign status. The tribe's federal footprint spans 245 total awards (prime and sub combined) across fifty distinct customer agencies, with recent activity averaging 12 to 27 awards per year from 2022 through 2024, declining to thirteen in 2025 and eight year-to-date in 2026.

The tribe's contract portfolio centers on tribal monitoring, cultural resource inventory, and ethnographic studies supporting federal land management and environmental compliance. The Bureau of Land Management's Oregon-Washington and Idaho regions anchor the concrete contract work: a $182,729 firm fixed-price purchase order from BLM's Alaska Region for tribal monitoring of the Northwest Malheur Project through March 2029; a $86,762 sole-source contract awarded September 2024 for cultural resource inventory across 1,755 acres of the Northwest Malheur County Greater Sage-Grouse Habitat Restoration Project, with performance through February 2027; and a $213,329 contract for cultural and ethnographic studies in the northwest Malheur County region awarded September 2022. An additional $46,000 purchase order from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ENDIST Kansas City) covers tribal cultural monitoring of USACE activities. The tribe also holds a $70,609 BLM contract for tribal monitoring during the 2025 Northwest Malheur Project Implementation, awarded June 2025 as a sole-source procurement under FAR 13-106(b) to leverage the tribe's specialized understanding of Castle Rock Traditional Cultural Property.

Grant work dominates the tribe's recent federal activity and dollar concentration. The tribe receives substantial block grants and formula grants for child care development and food assistance through the Department of Health and Human Services (Office of Child Care), with multiple Child Care and Development Block Grant (CFDA 93.575) and Child Care and Development Fund awards across 2023 through 2028. The tribe holds a $5.99 million Community Development Block Grant–Preservation and Reinvestment Initiative for Community Enhancement (CDBG-PRICE) awarded January 2025 from HUD's Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development, funding housing rehabilitation and infrastructure improvements for manufactured housing communities through September 2032. Environmental and infrastructure grants include a $482,000 Bureau of Land Management Cooperative Agreement under the Good Neighbor Authority (CFDA 15.015) for co-stewardship and habitat restoration through September 2029; a $336,437 Department of Energy Grid Infrastructure Deployment and Resilience grant (CFDA 81.254) for electric grid resilience through April 2032; and a $180,000 Bureau of Indian Affairs Tribal Energy Development Capacity grant (CFDA 15.148) for a Tribal Utility Authority feasibility study through July 2026. The tribe also received a $624,480 Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Assistance grant under the Tribal Justice Assistance Program (CFDA 16.596) to enhance tribal court operations, including probation services and an e-court system, through September 2028. Environmental capacity-building awards from EPA Region 10 include Clean Air Act (CAA) formula grants and Section 103 grants supporting the tribe's air quality program development and training, spanning 2023 through 2026. The tribe holds recurring National Park Service Historic Preservation Fund grants-in-aid (CFDA 15.904) for tribal historic preservation office activities through September 2026, and received a $247,697 FEMA Disaster Grants–Public Assistance award (CFDA 97.036) for COVID-19 pandemic emergency protective measures. SNAP and food distribution program grants flow through the Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service, with SNAP FDPIR Supplemental Aid awards spanning 2023 through 2027. The tribe received a $102,300 Bureau of Indian Affairs Indian Economic Development grant (CFDA 15.032) for a Foley Field Destination Resort feasibility study and business plan, completed March 2024.

The top five customer agencies by award count account for 37% of recent awards and reflect the tribe's concentration in interior and social-services funding: the Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service (23 awards), the Department of the Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs and Indian Education (22 awards), the Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families (18 awards), the Department of Housing and Urban Development Public and Indian Housing Office (14 awards), and the Department of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (13 awards). The top customer by potential value is the Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management's Oregon-Washington region (7 awards, $608 thousand combined potential value), followed by the Bureau of Reclamation (9 awards, $77 thousand) and Fish and Wildlife Service Region 1 (6 awards, $53 thousand). Twelve awards with ultimate completion dates within the next twenty-four months carry combined potential value of $87 thousand, representing moderate recompete exposure concentrated in contract renewals rather than grant cycles.

The tribe subcontracts to state agencies on federal grant pass-throughs, acting as sub-recipient on awards from the Oregon Department of Human Services (Title IV-B1 child welfare grants), Oregon Department of Justice (victim services funding), Oregon Health Authority (public health and substance abuse/mental health services), and Oregon Department of Education (educational funding). The tribe also acts as a sub-recipient on Emergency Management Performance Grants (EMPG) flowing through state emergency management offices.

The corporate structure includes Burns Paiute Housing Authority, a subsidiary tribal government entity classified as a housing authority and Indian tribe. The tribe's capability portfolio, grounded in contract and grant history, spans cultural resource management and tribal monitoring (primary contract work), child care and early childhood development administration, environmental program development and capacity building (air quality, solid waste, water quality), tribal justice system enhancement, broadband and grid infrastructure deployment, economic development planning, historic preservation office operations, and emergency management and pandemic response. Primary NAICS categories reflect this diversification: Environmental Consulting Services (6 awards), Hunting and Trapping (5 awards), All Other Specialty Trade Contractors (3 awards), and Surveying and Mapping Services (2 awards).

Document, records and data management; document, records and data storage and retrieval; managing and scanning documents for catalog and storage; digital archiving; security systems and consulting; website development and management; data processing;