5 takeaways from our investigation into the ‘ghost’ tribe that got millions in climate funding

This story doesn't concern home energy upgrades or rebates, so there's nothing here that affects your house or your plans. It's a report about how climate philanthropy and international bodies vetted, or failed to vet, an unrecognized Texas tribal group.

The reporting found that Juan Mancias, who leads the Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribe of Texas, raised more than $5 million from environmental groups and donors starting around 2019, despite the tribe having no federal or state recognition. The document he has long cited as proof of his hereditary claim and the tribe's ties to South Texas could not be located or verified, and genealogical records point to a different ancestral line than the one he claims. Using grant money, the tribe bought nearly 23 acres of land in Cameron County between 2022 and 2024, land that stays subject to property taxes and has limited protection from development, unlike land reacquired through the slower federal process recognized tribes must use.

The group and an allied organization also hold observer status at the United Nations, giving them access to draft policy language and government officials that is normally reserved for recognized tribal nations. The reporting notes that the person at the UN who would field complaints about the group's legitimacy is himself the head of that allied organization.