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“It’s a big win for Indian Country,” he said.

“Genealogy in Indian country is very maintained — you know who you’re related to, you know who you’re not,” she says.

According to Carly Griffith Hotvedt, the interim executive director of the Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative, the program serves some of the most vulnerable populations across the United States, with “around 30% of served households in Indian Country including children under 18.”

“However, for our Tribal communities, this is often viewed as another instance of a broken promise to Indian Country. Front line ITO staff in our communities ultimately deal with the fallout of the inconsistencies in the food package.”

As for the concerns of Indigenous activists, one expert told Indian Country Today that local industry has managed to win over enough Native American leaders that they do not need to convince all of them.