About Us

The Native American Agriculture Fund is a private, charitable trust devoted solely to serving Native American farmers and ranchers. NAAF provides grants to eligible organizations, including Tribal Nations, education institutions, community development financial institutions (CDFIs), and nonprofit organizations, in four core areas: business assistance, agricultural education, technical support, and advocacy services. NAAF was established through a rigorous legal process, ensuring independent oversight and a clear mission to support Native and rural communities most affected by systemic challenges. 

The Keepseagle litigation and settlement marked a historic achievement by confronting decades of documented discrimination against Native American farmers and ranchers in U.S. Department of Agriculture programs. The settlement represented a significant effort to address longstanding allegations of discrimination affecting Native American agricultural producers. The remedies provided real, tangible benefits to certified class members who alleged and documented harm. NAAF is a draw-down trust with a finite term of twenty years, after which the trust terminates. 

We urge policymakers, government leaders, key stakeholders, and the press to closely examine the significant legacy and ongoing impact of the Keepseagle Trust. 

Who We Are and What We Do 

NAAF’s origins are rooted in the Keepseagle v. Vilsack class action lawsuit, filed in 1999 by a proposed class of Native American farmers and ranchers who alleged that the United States Department of Agriculture had systematically denied them equal access to farm loans and loan servicing since at least 1981, in violation of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. Over the course of more than a decade of litigation, a substantial evidentiary record was established, and the class was proposed to a federal court. Through the litigation, investigations were conducted, harms were documented, expert analysis was completed, and substantial individual and statistical evidence concerning discriminatory loan denials was developed in the litigation record. Rather than continue a lengthy legal battle, the U.S. Department of Agriculture entered into a negotiated settlement agreement in 2010, a common and appropriate resolution mechanism in large-scale federal civil rights litigation that allowed both parties to bring the matter to a close without the uncertainty and cost of continued proceedings. 

The 2011 settlement, approved by the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, created a $680 million compensation fund, $80 million in debt relief, and additional programmatic reforms at USDA. Over 4,300 claims were filed, and more than 3,600 were approved for payment by an independent, court-appointed Neutral, with claimants receiving direct payments of up to $50,000 under Track A or up to $250,000 under Track B based on documented economic loss. 

The Cy Pres Provision is Standard, Court-Approved Practice in Class Litigation 

Following the claims period, approximately $380 million in settlement funds remained undisbursed. The reasons for this were directly tied to the original harm: many Native American farmers and ranchers who should have been eligible could not be identified or reached during the six-month claims period. The discrimination (and class period) extended over three decades, so many class members were deceased by the time of the settlement.  Geographic isolation, distrust of federal agencies built over generations, lack of legal representation, and the cultural and linguistic challenges of outreach across Indian Country meant that the full universe of affected individuals was never completely reached. The claims period was legally constrained in duration, and many individuals who suffered discrimination could not locate the required documentation or did not learn of the settlement in time. 

To address those remaining funds in a manner consistent with the purposes of the original litigation, the settlement agreement provided for a cy pres distribution, a standard and well-established legal mechanism used in class action settlements throughout the federal court system. The term cy pres, derived from the French phrase meaning “as near as possible,” directs unclaimed or undistributed settlement funds to purposes that approximate the intent of the original litigation when direct individual distribution is impractical or impossible. 

The cy pres provision in Keepseagle was included in the original 2010 settlement agreement approved by the federal court; the district court approved modifications that permitted a second distribution to prevailing claimants, and provided greater structure for the implementation of the cy pres, and the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in May 2017. The United States Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal in March 2018, allowing the distribution plan to stand. Following years of additional negotiation and further court-supervised process, NAAF was formally established in 2018 to receive and deploy those remaining funds in direct service of Native American agricultural communities. 

What NAAF Does Today 

NAAF is an independent, charitable, draw-down trust dedicated exclusively to Native American agriculture in the United States and governed by a Board of Trustees and fiduciary obligations. It operates entirely independently from the federal government. NAAF’s work is directly tied to the same communities at the center of the Keepseagle litigation. The Trust’s twenty-year term reflects purposeful deployment of funds over time, building long-term capacity for Native American agricultural producers. 

NAAF has a competitive, mission-driven grant process that awards grants to eligible entities that demonstrate the capacity to deploy grant funds toward the Trust’s mission. All grants must support one or more of NAAF’s four core areas, as outlined in the Trust agreement, which includes business assistance, agricultural education, technical support, and advocacy services for Native American farmers and ranchers. Grants that do not serve the mission are not eligible for funding. The terms of the court-established Trust Agreement legally constrain NAAF’s grantmaking.   

NAAF’s Trust Agreement identifies four categories of eligible grant recipients, each with proximity to Native farming and ranching communities and demonstrated capacity to deliver services at the ground level. Native agricultural communities are diverse in their geography and governance structures. 

NAAF’s role today is to fund entities with the capacity and infrastructure to address the original harms and documented barriers to capital access for Native farmers and ranchers while also addressing the lasting consequences of those barriers and investing in a future where Native agricultural communities can thrive on their own terms. Every grant NAAF makes, every organization NAAF supports, and every Native farmer or rancher whose operation is strengthened by that support reflects the legal process, the community perseverance, and the court-supervised framework that brought NAAF into existence. NAAF is proud of that foundation and is committed to transparency, legal compliance, and mission fidelity. 

In 1999, the Keepseagle v. Vilsack class-action suit was filed alleging that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) had engaged in discrimination against Native American farmers and ranchers in loan programs and servicing of loans dating back to 1981.

In 2010, after more than a decade of litigation, the federal government and the parties agreed to a settlement. The original settlement resulted in the creation of a $680 million compensation fund, another $80 million in debt relief, and tax relief in addition to other forms of programmatic relief to be instituted by USDA. A six-month claims process resulted in approved claims for more than 3,600 Native farmers and ranchers.

As a part of the settlement agreement, a cy pres fund was created. After a significant period of further negotiation, a second compensation payment and additional tax relief to successful claimants was approved and an additional $38 million in “fast track” grants to nonprofit and other eligible organizations that support Native farmers and ranchers was also authorized.

In 2018, the court directed that the remaining funds be distributed through a newly created Native American Agriculture Fund. Having received final approval to begin its work in 2018, the Native American Agriculture Fund must distribute its funds within a period of 20 years. The Native American Agriculture Fund will provide grants to eligible entities for business assistance, agricultural education, technical support, and advocacy services to support Native farmers and ranchers . Eligible entities include 501(c)3 organizations, educational organizations, CDFIs and Native CDFIs, and tribal governments.