Hoodwinked By a Fist Full of Dollars -- The Runaway Train of Non-Profits in Indian Country

Hoodwinked By a Fist Full of Dollars -- The Runaway Train of Non-Profits in Indian Country

A billionaire's fortune from the most polluting industries in the U.S. -- aluminum manufacturing and oil drilling -- now quietly funds non-profits in Indian country. This means big money in a few pockets for salaries, homes, and lavish expense accounts.

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, March 31, 2024

While searching for a non-profit's info, we stumbled across this foundation. It funds many in Indian country, and here's where its money comes from.

The money comes from the man who "commandeered the use of an entire element of earth -- aluminum -- through his control of the monopoly aluminum producer Alcoa," according to "The Rise and Fall of Andew Mellon."

At one point, five Fortune 500 companies owed their lineage directly to Andrew Mellon: Alcoa, Gulf Oil, Mellon Bank, Carborundum, and Koppers. He controlled a network of ninety-nine banks. And Alcoa is cited as one of the top air polluters in the U.S. 

Today, the Andrew T. Mellon Foundation shows $7.5 billion. It gives out grant funding for Arizona university projects, Native projects across the U.S. and many more. Most grants range from $500,000 to $90 million.

Censored News year-long investigation into non-profits in Indian country reveals some of those who benefit from the secret process of grant writing.

1. Selling Ceremonies -- Some are selling ceremonies in other countries, performing ceremonies which people must pay to attend.

2. Non-Indian Exploiters -- Non-Indians in the U.S. are using cultural ways such as traditional foods and ancient seeds without permission, and making a profit.

3. Secretive Grant Writing -- Grant writers use peoples names and causes without their permission, and conceal the grants, which are often hundreds of thousands, or millions of dollars.

4. A Quarter of a Billion Dollars Stashed -- Millions are stashed in the non-profit's salaries, bank accounts, real estate, and stock investments -- and never distributed to the people the funds were donated for. There's a quarter of billion dollars stashed in a handful of non-profits in Indian country.

5. Used Clothes and Expired Food -- While receiving millions, some non-profits are distributing used clothing and expired donated foods, especially in South Dakota.

6. Huge CEO Salaries -- The salaries of executives are most often $100,000 to $300,000. At non-profit hospitals, the salaries soar up to $1.2 million in Indian country.

7. Attorneys Missing in Action -- Attorneys at non-profits in Indian country receive millions of dollars of funding. However, the majority are not responding to the widespread need for attorneys in the most important cases to defend Native human rights and protect sacred places.

8. The Takeovers: Hostile Takeovers -- Some non-profits are receiving funding because of their longstanding good reputation. However, the funders appear to be unaware that the non-profits have been taken over in fraudulent schemes by CEOs or board members. The executives do this by first taking over the funds, and then oppress, bully and threaten while forming their own boards. The traditional founding Native elders are usually the first to be thrown out.

9. Non-profits Ignore Reports of Fraud -- Even when the fraud is reported to funders, it is usually ignored and denied. This big-money making racket uses those who are in need and victims and their families. The industry profiteers from those who actually live on the land and keep the traditions alive and those on the frontlines of struggle.

10. United Nations Profiteers and Plagiarizers -- The non-profit racket includes non-profits involved in Indigenous forums at the United Nations. It includes college professors who plagiarize grassroots Native People for U.N. reports and books, and non-profits who use victims and their families for lucrative grants.

11. Tribal Governments are Protected from Abuse Reports at U.N. -- Non-profits making reports to the U.N. have forbidden tribal members from naming their tribal governments in their testimonies about human rights abuses, such as the militarization of the southern border. The testimony forbidden described how their  tribal government is allowing the U.S. Border Patrol on their sovereign lands. They said the U.S. Border Patrol is now an "occupying army." The non-profits who have entered into agreements with the tribal governments are compromised.

12. The Spin-off Non-Profits -- There's also another scam. The non-profit creates spin-off non-profits, which the public is unaware of. In these piggy-back non-profits, the CEOs give personal loans to themselves, and give money to family members. Real estate is often placed in a business, under the same CEOs name, where it can be sold. In fact, some non-profits have a string of non-profits and commercial businesses which are difficult to detect.

Huge salaries, with money flowing to children and family members

The non-profit tax record shows the amount paid to board members. However, the staff salaries are only shown as a lump sum.

All the ones that Censored News looked at have grants and salaries going to the children and family members of the top executives. The money flow to relatives is supposed to be shown on the tax return as "interested parties," but some don't do this. The cash flow to relatives sometimes shows on their websites, in the staff employees and contractors. Other times, whistleblowers expose them.

The Frauds: They are Suddenly Indians

There's no way to know from the tax return if people are actually Native American. The current fraud involves people who have never identified as Native Americans, suddenly identifying as "Indigenous" or "Indian." They most often claim to be Yaqui, Cherokee or Apache and they take funds, and jobs, designated for Native Americans. The fraud includes university professors.

Some of the people who are distributing the funds are not familiar with the communities, and are not verifying whether people are actually Native American. In the ones examined by Censored News, the money is donated by foundations specifically for "Native Americans." However, millions are sprinkled around in various countries for others.

The U.S. tax law states that anyone can go into a non-profit's main office and request the financial records and must be provided with those.

The Media is Compromised

The media, too, appears to be compromised by grants, and the money pipeline from Las Vegas casinos. There is a lack of investigative reporting. The reporters reliance on plagiarism, rewrites and phone calls, deceives readers into believing the reporters  that they are out covering the news. Meanwhile, the non-profit media receives grants of $100,000 to $1 million -- to cover Indian country.

The dirty money doesn't always fund those it was intended for. Others have found a way to take it.

And finally, there's no free money. They will own you.

Read more

The Andrew T. Mellon Foundation grants are listed on its tax returns, toward the bottom, and are posted on ProPublica Explorer. The multi-million dollar grantees include funds donated for Indigenous at Arizona universities and projects throughout the U.S.

https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/131879954/202303179349100635/IRS990PF

The Mellon Foundation awarded $2 million to Black Hills Area Community Foundation for Rapid City Indian Boarding School Project, in 2021. 

https://www.mellon.org/grant-details/rapid-city-indian-boarding-school-lands-project-20450989

Previously at Censored News:

Millions Sinking into the Rabbit Hole of Indian Country Non-Profits

One non-profit in Indian country ended the year with $100 million in its bank accounts and assets at the end of the last tax year.

https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/01/millions-sinking-into-rabbit-hole-of.html

The Money Pump: Non Profits in Indian County: Fraud, Secrecy and Deep Deception

Secretive grant writing results in huge funding. Traditional foods, culture and farming ways are exploited.

https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-money-pump-non-profits-in-indian.html

Notes:

Aluminum Production and reserves

"Tens of millions of metric tons of bauxite are mined each year. The leaders in bauxite production include Australia, China, Brazil, India and Guinea. The United States has small amounts of bauxite ore located in Arkansas, Alabama and Georgia." -- The Aluminum Association.

"During almost 60 years of operation the Alcoa Aluminum Smelter that was located in Sandow just 6 miles southwest of the city of Rockdale, Texas produced approximately 26 billion pounds of aluminum." It is northeast of Austin, Texas. Source

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