Yellen v. Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation

Yellen v. Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation, 594 U.S. 338 (2021), was a United States Supreme Court case dealing with the classification of Alaska Native corporations (ANCs) for purposes of receiving funds set-aside for tribal governments under the CARES Act.

In a 6–3 decision issued in June 2021, the Court ruled that ANCs were considered to be "Indian tribes" and were eligible to receive the set-aside funds.

This arrangement is unique to Alaska compared to native American tribes in the lower 48 states, where they operate their own tribal governments in recognized Indian reservations within federal law.

The district court ruled in favor of the Treasury Department, in that the ANCs could be considered tribal governments and eligible to receive CARES Act funds.

The Circuit Court ruled that as no ANC is federally recognized, compared to the tribal governments, they fail to qualify for the CARES Act funding.

Circuit and remanded the case for review, ruling that ANCs, under the ISDA, do qualify as federally-recognized tribal governments, and thus are eligible to receive CARES funds.