Washington tribes awarded more than $4.3 million in federal violence prevention grants

Three Washington tribes were awarded more than $4.3 million in federal violence prevention grants Friday.

The Yakama Nation was awarded more than $3 million in grants, the Kalispel Indian Community of the Kalispel Reservation was awarded $698,000 and the Colville Tribe was awarded $584,000, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release.

The grants are among $273.4 million in grants awarded to 149 American Indian tribes and Alaskan Native villages.

The grants awarded to the Yakama Nation will support programs that address violence against women, crime victim services, community policing, and corrections and correctional alternatives.

The Kalispel Reservation grants will go to alcohol and substance abuse programs and to their justice system.

The Colville Tribe grants will support a crime victim services program.

In a statement, U.S. Attorney General William Barr said the grants were designed to address “unacceptably high” levels of domestic violence and violent crimes in Native American and Alaskan communities.

William Hyslop, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, said in the statement that the grants will give tribes the tools to service victims and reduce violent crime.