Homelessness in the U.S. is at a record high, according to new data released by the federal government this week. And as in previous years, Indigenous people are overrepresented among Americans experiencing homelessness.
Members of Chief Seattle Club, a nonprofit that serves Indigenous people in Seattle, are especially aware of what the homeless people in their community are up against. A 2019 permit granted by the transit authority King County Metro to turn a parking lot into Eagle Village, one of the homeless shelters managed by the nonprofit, is about to expire.
Now, there are fears that the shelter’s residents will once again face homelessness.
“They’re trying to entice people off of reservations into urban settings for a chance at prosperity, but it just ends up being a poverty trap,” Chief Seattle Club Executive Director Derrick Belgarde said.
Culturally specific homeless care
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development released its annual homeless assessment report on Friday. Findings show that homelessness is at its highest reported level since the department began surveying in 2007. The number of people experiencing homelessness increased by 12% between 2022 and 2023.
Indigenous people continue to be “overrepresented” in the data, according to HUD. They had the largest percentage increase of people experiencing sheltered homelessness, rising 18% in one year. They make up about 3% of the 653,104 people tallied in the study as experiencing homelessness.
But in King County, where Seattle is located, the situation is especially dire. Anne Martens, senior director of communications at the King County Regional Homelessness Authority, said between 9% and 15% of the homeless population identifies as Native or Indigenous. Demographically, they constitute only 1% of the total population.
“There is a clear need to increase capacity and culturally-relevant services for Native/Indigenous people experiencing homelessness — that depends…
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