INDIAN CHILD WELFARE:
The Indian Child Welfare Act was passed by congress in 1978. The reason the act was passed was that congress found: (25 USC §1901)…"that there is no resource that is more vital to the continued existence and integrity of Indian tribes than their children and that the United States has a direct interest, as trustee, in protecting Indian children who are members of or are eligible for membership in an Indian tribe;and that an alarmingly high percentage of Indian families are broken up by the removal, often unwarranted, of their children from them by non-tribal public and private agencies and that an alarmingly high percentage of such children are placed in non-Indian foster and adoptive homes and institutions; and that the States, exercising their recognized jurisdiction over Indian child custody proceedings through administrative and judicial bodies, have often failed to recognize the essential tribal relations of Indian people and the cultural and social standards prevailing in Indian communities and families."…The Indian Child Welfare Program provides services to members of the tribe. The programs' main function is to provide representation for the tribe in child in need of aid cases which involve tribal members and to ensure that the provisions set forth in the Indian Child Welfare Act are followed by State agencies.

GENERAL ASSISTANCE:
The general assistance program provides services to Indian residents of the Native Village of Kotzebue. This is a welfare program designed to help eligible participants meet their basic needs such as food, heating or rent.

RESOURCES PROGRAM:
The resources program provides services to restricted native allotment and townsite owners within our geographical service area. Our staff helps resolve trespass issues, and processes sales, leases and permits. These processes take some time to complete because of the steps that we are required to take in processing sales, leases and permits. These restrictions are placed to protect the best interest of owners or their heirs.

YOUTH OPPORTUNITY GROUP:
Mission for Opportunities for Alaska Native Youth Proram: To promote self-esteem and self-determination through a culturally appropriate program of education, training,occupational experience, and related services for youth in the most pverty striken communities of Alaska, with special emphasis on Alaska's indigenous people.

ENROLLMENT
This program is for the purpose of keeping our membership roles current and for providing our members with Indian identification documentation.

NAGPRA
The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act was enacted in order that Tribes would be notified of ancestral remains located in federal repositories and other federally funded or sponsored institutions and then assist Tribes in the process of identifying and repatriating the remains back to their Tribal resting places.

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
Since 1997 the Tribe has had an Environmental General Assistance Program with funding through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The funding for this program was started in 1993 to give Indian Tribes an opportunity to build their capacity to administer environmental protection programs in traditional Tribal territory.
The Kotzebue IRA has used this program to complete a Tribal environmental survey of the community and to develop projects to address those areas of highest concern for its members. Projects have included remediation of a Tribal dumpsite, development of a constructed wetlands plan to treat sewage effluent, and a Traditional Knowledge research study to document Tribal members personal insights on climate/environmental change in our territory. Current activities include developing a watershed protection plan for our drinking water source, spearheading an effort to get a statewide contaminates testing and awareness program started, and creating a Tribal Environmental Agreement between the Tribe and the EPA Region 10.

TRADITIONAL RESOURCES
The Tribes Traditional Resource Program was started for the purpose of gathering information on the uses, trends, and status, of the resources that are harvested for the traditional, nutritional, and cultural needs of our members. The use of questionnaires, interviews and working groups are employed to gather the data and cooperative projects with other entities are carried out. Currently the program is taking part in a caribou health study, in cooperation with Dartmouth College and the Kiana IRA, using local hunter knowledge to predict the current and future health of the Western Arctic Caribou Herd. The program also collaborates with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to contribute to the management and regulation of traditional resources.