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Navajo Nation surpasses Cherokee to become largest US tribe

Navajo Nat. allows voting after ballot shortage
Posted at 10:41 AM, May 19, 2021
and last updated 2021-05-19 13:41:25-04

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — The Navajo Nation has by far the largest land mass of any Native American tribe. Now, it's boasting the largest enrolled population, too.

The number of Navajo citizens grew to nearly 400,000 as a result of payments made to members for hardships during the pandemic. The tribe now tops the Cherokee Nation's enrollment of 392,000, but a spokeswoman says the Oklahoma tribe also is growing.

The U.S. Treasury Department will use tribes' own enrollment figures to pay out a chunk of the $20 billion set aside for them in the latest virus relief funding package. Tribes have until Monday to submit data online.