Winnebago Tribe Of Nebraska

The Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, a federally recognized tribal government headquartered in Winnebago, Nebraska, is a prime recipient of federal grants across social services, nutrition assistance, environmental protection, cultural preservation, infrastructure, and public safety programs. The tribe does not hold federal contracts as a prime contractor and operates as a prime grant recipient across 63 distinct federal agencies, with 99% of its award portfolio composed of direct prime grants and cooperative agreements rather than subcontract work.

The tribe's grant portfolio concentrates heavily in health, human services, and nutrition programs. The top funding customers by award count are the Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families (78 awards), the Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service (93 awards across two separate agency entries), the Department of the Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs and Indian Education (56 awards), and the Environmental Protection Agency (38 awards). These four entities account for 45% of the tribe's recent awards. The portfolio spans 585 total awards with combined obligated dollars of $294.2 million—a signal of sustained, multi-agency engagement across domestic assistance programs.

The tribe's capability footprint reflects its role as a tribal government administrator of federal social and environmental programs. In nutrition and food assistance, the Winnebago Tribe administers the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR, CFDA 10.567) receiving $676,839 for FY2025 to distribute USDA foods to income-eligible households; the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC, CFDA 10.557) with multiple administrative and food-expense awards totaling over $750,000 annually; and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, CFDA 10.561) nutrition education programs. In child welfare and family services, the tribe received $401,392 in FY2025 under the Child Support Services Block Grant (CFDA 93.563) to operate Title IV-D child support enforcement, and operates Child Welfare Social Services (CFDA 93.645), Promoting Safe and Stable Families (CFDA 93.556), and Healthy Marriage Promotion and Responsible Fatherhood programs (CFDA 93.086) that coordinate TANF and child welfare services to prevent out-of-home placements. In public safety, the tribe received $400,000 under the Support for Adam Walsh Act Implementation Grant (CFDA 16.750) for SORNA sex offender registration and monitoring, and operates the Tribal Special Assistant United States Attorneys program (CFDA 16.055) with $1 million to fund a cross-designated tribal prosecutor. In environmental programs, the tribe administers water quality monitoring, air quality assessment, brownfields remediation, and pesticide education initiatives through EPA Region 7 cooperative agreements and formula grants (CFDAs 66.605, 66.038, 66.926, 66.700). In transportation, the tribe operates the Winnebago Tribal Transit system serving approximately 4,000 riders across multiple Federal Transit Administration Formula Grant awards (CFDA 20.509), most recently $1.113 million in FY2025-2026. In cultural and educational programs, the tribe received grants for library services, historic preservation (CFDA 15.904), Native American graves protection and repatriation (CFDA 15.922), language preservation (BIA Living Language Grant Program), Head Start operations (CFDA 93.600), and vocational rehabilitation for American Indians (CFDA 84.187).

The tribe's federal grant footprint shows steady activity with 31 awards in 2022, declining to 21 in 2023 and 2025, with 25 in 2024 and 8 through August 2026. Thirteen awards are scheduled for ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, creating a modest recompete cycle across social services, environmental, and transportation programs. Recent awards include a $1.89 million Indian Community Development Block Grant (CFDA 14.862) for housing and economic development, a $3 million Indian Housing Block Grant (CFDA 14.867) for affordable housing, and a $430,000 Cooperative Agreement for family services coordination. The tribe also holds subaward relationships as a recipient of federal pass-through funding from state and local intermediaries—receiving subgrants from the Nebraska Commission on Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice for gun violence prevention, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources for community forest expansion, and the Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska for teacher education. One named subsidiary, Ho-Chunk, Inc., carries designations as a tribally owned firm and self-certified small disadvantaged business, signaling potential for federal contracting outside the grant ecosystem, though Ho-Chunk's contracting footprint does not appear in the current award source.