Well I do know that they applied for state and federal grants to help build and fill a station.

Actually, I worked for a Tribal Department for a couple of years. As a Tribal Nation, if Federally recognized, they are a Sovereign Nation and are not required to follow NFPA unless their Tribal Government Officially adopts this standard. When I started working for one of the northwest tribes, I came on board with having worked previously at other Fire Departments for some time, and so I started asking questions, with that being the reply.
That being said, most every Department follows some sort of standard regarding NFPA as pretty much all the gear, equipment and such has to meet NFPA specs, and indirectly they are following NFPA, just not officially. Interesting thing about the Department I worked at, they followed all the State Fire Credentialling guidlelines/certifications, as well as the State EMS certifications also........they just wouldn't officially recognize/adopt NFPA. As I pointed out on occasion, if someone gets hurt on the line, federal and local investigators won't be looking at other tribal departments as comparisons, but rather departments in their particular area, especially if they have IGA's/mutual-aid for response with them. Good question.....................

Tribal Fire Departments (those recognized by the Feds) do not have to follow any NFPA standards or regulations, UNLESS the Tribal Council adopts them. As for Civil Suits, Tribes and those employed by Tribes can only be sued if they agree to being sued and if they do agree it would most likely only be in their Tribal Court, so there is little fear of being sued like non tribal departments have to be concerned about. With that being said, I have not encountered any Tribal Fire Department that has not volunterly adopted NFPA standards or stronger, even if just for the safety of the firefighters. I have worked with or for several Tribal Fire Departments in Oklahoma and Arizona and all follow NFPA guidelines. This is especially beneficial when establishing mutual aid agreements with surronding agencies, everyone needs to know that their own firefighters are being looked after when they respond to assist a tribal agency or vice versa.
There are numerous avenues available for funding, all the avenues available to other fire departments, in addition to some tribal only; BIA Wildland Fire Division and Homeland Security are just a few, and of course for those that have gaming income, that additional resouce is available. Not all tribes have gaming operations so they relay on grants just as much as non tribal departments do.