The Boulder-based Native American Rights Fund has received a $1.5 million grant from a California tribe.

The gift from the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation, which will be dispersed over the next three years in installments of $500,000 each, will go to cover general operating expenses and special projects.

Carly Hare, director of development for NARF, said the gift will help the fund continue cases in which its lawyers are representing less-well-off tribes that pay on a sliding scale. The fund has represented more than 250 tribes from 31 states.

"It allows us to continue to do the work we do, on sovereignty, on water rights, on religious freedom, especially for the harder-pressed tribes," Hare said. "Some of these cases have gone on for almost 30 years, and this gift will help us continue with these cases."

The fund has an annual budget of $7 million. About one-third of that comes from tribal donations, with the rest coming from individual donations and fees for legal services.

The gift from the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation is one of the largest single tribal donations NARF has received, Hare said.

The nation, located in Brooks, Calif., near Sacramento, recently has looked to expand its charitable giving outside of California.

Hare said Marshall McKay, the tribe's chairman, joined NARF's board of directors earlier this year. The tribe sees NARF as essential to preserving tribal sovereignty, which is the basis of self-governance and economic development.

"The Tribal Council of Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation is committed to Native rights and the preservation of tribal sovereignty," McKay said in a news release. "This grant to the Native American Rights Fund tangibly expresses our belief in the importance of the outstanding work that they do."

Contact reporter Erica Meltzer at 303-473-1355 or meltzere@dailycamera.com.



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