Nebraska is one of the top five states to fill out the census, but Nebraska Tribal Partnership Specialist for the State of Nebraska and South Dakota, Harmon Maples said tribal people were under counted by 5% in the last census, especially children under five years old.
The census is used to allocate $700 billion every year for federal funding including medicaid, schools, roads, SNAP programs and more.
Coralys M. Ruiz, Tribal Media Specialist for the Denver Region, said it’s important that tribal members who live on reservations or in urban areas respond to the 2020 census.
"It is their time to stand up and say who they are, where they are," Ruiz said. "So that they can be seen and they can be counted for this 2020 census, and then this will just impact their communities for the next 10 years"
Due to COVID-19 concerns, tribal areas are harder to access and their internet is limited.
Nebraskans can still fill out the census through the mail, over the phone at 844-330-2020, or online through September 30.