Nooksack Indian Tribe

Nooksack Indian Tribe, doing business as Nooksack Business Corporation 1, is a federally recognized tribal government headquartered in Deming, Washington that operates as a prime recipient on federal grants focused on social services, environmental restoration, public health, and community development serving tribal members and surrounding rural Whatcom County populations. The tribe does not hold federal contracts; its footprint consists entirely of grant awards as a prime recipient (91% of recent awards) and subrecipient on pass-through grants (9%). With approximately 1,946 enrolled members, the Nooksack Tribe administers a portfolio of federal grants spanning health and human services, environmental and natural resource management, law enforcement capacity building, and cultural preservation.

The tribe's federal grant customer base concentrates heavily within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The top funding agencies by award count include HHS Administration for Children and Families (106 awards across multiple distinct line items in the source data), the Department of the Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs and Indian Education (40 awards), HHS Administration for Community Living (39 awards), and the Institute of Museum and Library Services, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Environmental Protection Agency. These five agency groupings account for approximately 44 percent of the tribe's recent award count, with HHS programs (child support enforcement, child care and development block grants, temporary assistance for needy families, low-income home energy assistance, and community services) representing the plurality of the active portfolio.

The tribe's capability portfolio reflects its role as a tribally governed social services and environmental steward. In human services, Nooksack administers block grant programs including the Child Support Services program (CFDA 93.563, $2.5 million obligated in FY2026), the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grant (CFDA 93.558, $2.3 million obligated in FY2026), the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CFDA 93.575, $584 thousand obligated in FY2026), the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (CFDA 93.568), and the Community Services Block Grant (CFDA 93.569). In environmental and natural resource work, the tribe operates as a prime recipient on a $600 thousand cooperative agreement with EPA Region 10 for Puget Sound watershed and salmon restoration (CFDA 66.121, effective October 2025 through September 2030) and a $5.2 million NOAA cooperative agreement for South Fork Nooksack River habitat restoration addressing priority limiting factors for Chinook and steelhead (award date August 2023, completion June 2027). The tribe also received a $1 million project grant from the Rural Utilities Service Community Facilities Loans and Grants program (CFDA 10.766) in September 2025 for community infrastructure in Deming.

In public safety and justice, Nooksack holds multiple Department of Justice grants including the Tribal Resources Grant Hiring Program (CFDA 16.710, $507 thousand, October 2022 through September 2027), the Tribal Resources Grant Equipment and Training Program, the Office on Violence Against Women Grants to Indian Tribal Governments program (CFDA 16.587, $556 thousand, October 2025 through September 2028), and the COPS Office SORNA-focused grant (CFDA not specified) for sex offender registration and community outreach. The tribe also holds SAMHSA Center for Substance Abuse Treatment grants for opioid response and prevention targeting youth ages 11–24, with a five-year project grant awarded September 2024 running through September 2029.

In library and cultural programming, Nooksack receives recurring project grants from the Institute of Museum and Library Services for Native American Library Services Basics grants and virtual reality cultural documentation projects integrating Nooksack dialect language software and elder oral histories. The tribe also holds multiple formula grants under the Older Americans Act (CFDA variants for Title VI Parts A and C and the Nutrition Services Incentive Program for Native Americans), Head Start program grants (CFDA 93.600), and historic preservation fund grants from the National Park Service supporting tribal historic preservation office operations.

Recent activity shows declining award volume: 22 awards in 2022, rising to 35 in 2023, then declining to 23 in 2024, 18 in 2025, and 12 in 2026 year-to-date. The tribe faces a recompete cliff with 16 awards reaching ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, creating renewal or new-submission opportunities in FY2027. In its subrecipient role, the tribe receives pass-through funding from the Washington State Department of Health (WIC program funding, public health emergency preparedness), the Health Care Authority (behavioral health and substance abuse recovery services), the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission (treaty fishing rights implementation and salmon recovery subawards), and the Recreation and Conservation Office and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (riverine habitat restoration design and construction subawards in the Nooksack and North Fork watersheds). Performance occurs in Whatcom County, Washington communities including Deming, Everson, Sumas, Nooksack, and Lynden.