Tribes help tribes after natural disasters. Helen is no different.

Members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians were looking forward to this year’s annual Cherokee Indian Fair – the 2024 event would have been the 112th. There will be Indigenous putter tournaments, a bubblegum blowing competition and a longest hairstyle competition.

But the tribe, located in western North Carolina, was hit by Hurricane Helen less than a week before the fair, causing flooding, destruction and a death toll of more than 200 people across the state. Some members thought that perhaps the cancellation would be for the best.

But chief executive Michell Hicks said the fair should go on as scheduled.

For Hicks, the gathering was more important now than ever as a way to raise donations for those in need and “honor our traditions while supporting those who need it most.”

Major country music acts that performed at the fair, such as headliner Midland, encouraged participants to bring non-perishable food and bottled water for those affected by the hurricane. And with the five-day celebration ending on Oct. 5, tribes from across the region continue to rally to support the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, which were among the hardest hit by Hurricane Helen.

Tribes often have a harder time accessing funds to pay for damages, so as climate-related disasters get worse, tribal nations often rely on each other’s communities for support. For many tribes, the disaster is exacerbating existing inequalities.

Even though tribal communities are located in some of the most vulnerable areas, they have always been left behind when extreme weather strikes. One 2019 study found that tribal citizens received on average just $3 per person in federal disaster assistance each year, compared to $26 for non-tribal U.S. citizens. Additionally, federally recognized tribes were only given the opportunity to seek assistance directly from the Federal Emergency Management Agency in 2013. Prior to this, tribes could only seek assistance through the states in which their lands were located.

Kelby Kennedy is FEMA’s first National Tribal Advocate and a citizen of the Choctaw Nation. She said FEMA is working diligently to address the unique barriers facing tribal nations. “Before Hurricanes Helen and Milton made landfall, they worked with each Tribal Nation along the way to see if they had any unmet needs and if they needed additional support before landfall,” she said.

In 2022, the same year Kennedy was appointed, FEMA released National Tribal Strategy guidance, in which the agency outlined its plan to address long-standing inequities—for example, by increasing climate change education and improving the coordination and delivery of federal assistance. . But two years later, some are still waiting to see whether the guidance has truly improved relief efforts. Carey Cullen works at the Disaster Relief Center and manages the Native American and Tribal Recovery Program. She works with tribes to manage grants and close funding gaps for tribal communities impacted by climate-related disasters, and said she sees more work to be done to address disaster recovery as many tribes are already operating at deficit .

“Many of our tribal communities already have a lot of pre-existing conditions and disparities,” Cullen said, citing long distances from medical clinics, a lack of emergency management resources and substandard housing.

She said tribes are having to create a patchwork of support systems and team up with other organizations as well as other tribes to deal with disasters faster than FEMA can.

Members of the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma knew there could be such gaps in support, and many of them traveled 13 hours to North Carolina to attend the 112th Indian Fair hosted by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Volunteers from Cherokee Language Immersion School and the Department of Emergency Management delivered 38,000 bottles of water and 100 pallets of clothing and bedding.

Chuck Hoskin Jr., principal chief of the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma, said that as climate change worsens and natural disasters increase, the two tribes’ shared history has helped them develop an understanding that they need each other in difficult times.

“These storms are becoming more intense, and hurricanes affecting the interior of the continent leave us all feeling a certain degree of vulnerability,” he said.

Damage from Helen is estimated to be in the billions. When Hurricane Milton hit just weeks later, FEMA funding was already in jeopardy. Hoskin said it makes him think and makes the future more uncertain. As climate change becomes more extreme, Hoskin worries about how much stronger hurricanes could become. “We need to make an effort to curb this,” he said. “But we are falling behind the planet and are now suffering the consequences.”

Other tribes in the state are no strangers to natural disasters that impact communities for decades. The Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, a state-recognized tribe, is helping coordinate disaster relief efforts for its western neighbors by partnering with a religious organization called the Burnt Swamp Baptist Association. The tribe collected donations and sent teams to assess damage in the western part of the state. Members of the Lumbee Tribe Boys and Girls Club spent a week putting together hygiene kits and children making coloring books for affected families.

John L. Lowery, chairman of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, said their community has experienced two natural disasters — Hurricane Matthew in 2016 and Hurricane Florence in 2018 — and they know the road to recovery is long.

“We want to do our part to support our neighbors in the North Carolina mountains during this difficult time following the devastation of Hurricane Helen,” he said. “We know how difficult it is to experience a major loss and we want to help these families.”

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