Budget & Tax

Oklahoma tribes made bank during COVID

June 14, 2023

Curtis Shelton

The State of Oklahoma received a total of $3.4 billion—or $846 per capita—in federal relief from the CARES Act (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act) and ARPA (the American Rescue Plan Act).

By contrast, Oklahoma tribes received roughly $15,000 per capita.

The Cherokee Nation received $2 billion in ARPA funds, the Choctaw Nation received $1.1 billion, the Chickasaw Nation received $552 million, and the Creek Nation received $493 million. That’s a total of $4.1 billion in ARPA funds for those four tribes alone, and it doesn’t include money given to the other 34 tribes in Oklahoma. When adding the $1.9 billion Oklahoma tribes got from the CARES Act, that brings the total federal relief to at least $6 billion for Oklahoma’s 38 tribes.