Spirit Lake Tribe

Spirit Lake Tribe, a federally recognized Native American tribal government based in Fort Totten, North Dakota, operates primarily as a recipient of federal grants and as a tribal authority managing social services, environmental programs, infrastructure, and economic development on the Spirit Lake Reservation. The Tribe is tribally owned and American Indian owned, competing almost exclusively in full-and-open federal grant and contract vehicles tailored for tribal governments and Indian organizations rather than in small-business set-asides; 98% of its federal awards are prime grants or contracts, with only 2% as subrecipient roles.

The Tribe's federal portfolio centers on social and community services, environmental protection, and economic capacity-building. Representative recent work includes a $7.279 million Climate Pollution Reduction Grants Cooperative Agreement from the EPA Region 8 (CFDA 66.046, awarded December 2024) to implement greenhouse gas reduction measures including community solar installation, housing electrification, electric vehicle fleet expansion, and geothermal heat pump deployment through 2029; an $850,000 Violence Against Women Discretionary Grants award from the Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women (CFDA 16.587, awarded October 2025) to deliver victim advocacy and support services for survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking through 2028; a $2.88 million Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) formula grant from the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Community Services (CFDA 93.568, awarded October 2025) providing utility assistance and weatherization support to low-income reservation households; and a $1.5 million Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling (SWIFR) Cooperative Agreement from the EPA Region 8 (CFDA 66.920, awarded June 2024) to enhance waste collection and recycling infrastructure on the reservation.

Customer concentration runs deep within Indian Affairs, health and human services, and environmental stewardship agencies. The Department of the Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs and Indian Education leads by award count (134 awards, $16 thousand combined potential value), followed by the Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families (77 awards) and the Environmental Protection Agency (39 awards). The General Services Administration Public Buildings Service holds the dollar concentration by potential value (16 awards, $7 million combined potential value, primarily tied to building-leasing vehicles), but this ranking reflects a discrete set of lease/rental contracts on the Tribe's physical assets rather than programmatic service delivery. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission holds 33 awards valued at $447 thousand, consisting of recurring Tribal Employment Rights Ordinance (TERO) definitional contracts in the $30,000–$33,000 range annually.

Spirit Lake Tribe holds two primary parent vehicles: Basic Ordering Agreement GS08B13843 (97 task orders, $12.3 million combined potential value) and Basic Ordering Agreement GS08B13155 (1 task order). The first vehicle anchors the Tribe's lease and facilities-management revenue; the second carries minimal activity in the source data. The Tribe operates through formula grants and project grants for health, environment, and community development work rather than through federal acquisition vehicles reserved for contractors.

Activity remains steady but modest. Five-year award volume shows 32 awards in 2022, declining to 24 in 2024, then recovering to 27 in 2025. Only four awards appear in 2026 to date (through April), reflecting incomplete-year reporting. Combined potential value across all 779 awards totals $14.7 million, but obligated dollars reach $247.6 million—a figure indicating that many awards carry multi-year funding tranches or ongoing operational grants that dwarf the single-year potential values. Thirty-one awards face ultimate completion inside the next twenty-four months with combined potential value of $33 thousand, indicating minimal recompete cliff in the near term; most grants run on multi-year cycles with periodic renewals rather than discrete recompete events.

The Tribe's award portfolio concentrates in two primary categories: non-residential building leasing (100 awards, primarily from GSA's lease portfolio) and human rights and social support services (23 awards). By federal contracting category code, 117 awards fall under Social—Direct Aid to Tribal Governments (PSC Pl 93-638), and 51 fall under Lease/Rental of Office Buildings. This framing reflects the Tribe's dual profile as both a service-delivery agency (running TERO, victim assistance, opioid response, nutrition, transit, and environmental programs) and as a landlord to federal tenants occupying tribal facilities.

The Tribe operates two named subsidiaries with distinct federal profiles. Sioux Manufacturing Corporation, tribally owned and minority owned, carries a self-certified small disadvantaged business designation and manufactures goods—one summary noted defense-related specialized manufacturing capacity, though the source does not detail current contracts under that subsidiary. Spirit Lake Casino and Resort, also tribally owned, operates as a commercial hospitality and gaming entity; recent grants included a $2.6 million energy feasibility study for combined heat and power at the casino resort. Across Service Contract Inventory data (FY2022–FY2024), the Tribe reports 6 service-contract records (all as subcontractor, none as prime) totaling 0.7 FTEs in both FY2022 and FY2024, indicating minimal federal service delivery through SCI-reportable contracts and suggesting the Tribe's federal revenue stream flows primarily through grants and facilities-leasing rather than labor-intensive service contracts.

Sub-award activity remains negligible in the prime-recipient footprint. The Tribe operates 14 sub-awards (2% of total), mostly as a sub-recipient of federal grants passed through North Dakota state agencies (Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation) for WIC nutrition programs, immunization coordination, juvenile justice intervention, and epidemiologic capacity-building. This posture reflects the Tribe's status as a federally recognized government receiving pass-through funding from states rather than as a vendor competing for contract work.