Ho-Chunk Nation Of Wisconsin

Ho-Chunk Nation Of Wisconsin, a federally recognized tribal government headquartered in Black River Falls, Wisconsin, operates as a prime recipient of federal grants across health, education, environmental protection, and social services, with 77% of its recent federal footprint concentrated in direct tribal-government grant awards rather than contracts or subcontracts.

The Nation is organized as a child entity under the parent Ho-Chunk Nation (doing business as Ho-Chunk Casino), and competes primarily in tribal set-aside grant programs administered by HHS, USDA, EPA, and DOI. The source records 282 prime grant awards and 82 sub-awards across 54 customer agencies, with combined obligated dollars totaling $136.9 million against stated potential value, reflecting significant drawdown on multiyear commitments.

Customer concentration sits with federal social-services and nutrition-assistance grantor agencies. The Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families leads by award count (41 awards), followed by the USDA Food and Nutrition Service (30 awards) and EPA Region 5 (21 awards). These three agencies anchor the recipient portfolio across child care, child welfare, family services, nutrition assistance, and environmental remediation. A secondary concentration in HHS Indian Health Service and Administration on Aging reflects the Nation's focus on tribal elder and public-health services. The grant portfolio tilted toward human rights organizations and similar mission-aligned work in the category-concentration data.

Recent prime-grant work includes a $1.357 million five-year Head Start award (CFDA 93.600) from the Office of Head Start effective April 2026, supporting early childhood education and family support services for three- and four-year-old children across Wisconsin; a $6 million Indian Housing Block Grant (CFDA 14.867) from HUD's Public and Indian Housing Office for affordable housing construction, rehabilitation, and infrastructure on tribal lands; a $1.277 million Discretionary Grant under the Violence Against Women program (CFDA 16.587) from the DOJ Office on Violence Against Women to expand victim services including batterer's intervention programming; and recurring formula grants from the Administration on Aging supporting nutrition, supportive, and caregiver services for tribal elders under the Older Americans Act Title VI (CFDA 93.047, 93.058). The Nation also holds active cooperative agreements for injury prevention (HHS Indian Health Service, $150 thousand, CFDA 93.284), public health systems strengthening (CDC Center for State, Tribal, Local, and Territorial Support), and water-quality management under Clean Water Act Section 106 (EPA Region 5, formula grant).

Activity has grown from 17 awards in 2022 to a peak of 53 in 2024, settling at 39 in 2025 and 19 year-to-date in 2026. The recompete window shows 24 awards with ultimate completion dates inside the next twenty-four months, creating renewal opportunity across child care, child support, nutrition assistance, and environmental programs. Sub-award activity reflects the Nation's role as sub-recipient under Wisconsin state agencies (Departments of Public Instruction, Health Services, and Children and Families) on nutrition programs (NSLP, CACFP, SNAP-ED), health infrastructure, mental health and substance abuse services, and child welfare contracts. Named sub-award partners include the University of Wisconsin System, Winrock International Institute for Agricultural Development, and the Minneapolis Foundation. The Nation does not report federal contract prime positions; its federal footprint is exclusively grant-driven, positioning it as a direct federal-grant recipient within tribal governance and social-services grant programs rather than as a procurement vendor.