The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA),
is a United States
federal agency within the
Department of the Interior. It is responsible for implementing
federal laws and policies related to
American Indians and
Alaska Natives, and administering and managing over of land
held in trust by the
U.S. federal government for
Indian Tribes. It renders services to roughly 2 million indigenous Americans across 574 federally recognized tribes.
The BIA is governed by a director and overseen by the assistant secretary for Indian affairs, who answers to the
secretary of the interior.
The BIA works with
tribal governments to help administer law enforcement and justice; promote development in agriculture, infrastructure, and the economy; enhance tribal governance; manage natural resources; and generally advance the quality of life in tribal communities.
Educational services are provided by
Bureau of Indian Education—the only other agency under the assistant secretary for Indian affairs—while health care is the responsibility of the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services through its
Indian Health Service
The Indian Health Service (IHS) is an operating division (OPDIV) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). IHS is responsible for providing direct medical and public health services to members of federally-recognized Nativ ...
.
The BIA is one of the oldest federal agencies in the U.S., with roots tracing back to the Committee on Indian Affairs established by Congress in 1775.
First headed by
Benjamin Franklin, the committee oversaw trade and treaty relations with various indigenous peoples, until the establishment of the Bureau of Indian Affairs by
Secretary of War
The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of the ...
John C. Calhoun in 1824. The BIA gained statutory authority in 1832, and in 1849 was transferred to the newly created Department of the Interior. Until the formal adoption of its current name in 1947, the BIA was variably known as the Indian office, the Indian bureau, the Indian department, and the Indian Service.
The BIA's mission and mandate historically reflected the U.S. government's prevailing policy of
forced assimilation
Forced assimilation is an involuntary process of cultural assimilation of religious or ethnic minority groups during which they are forced to adopt language, identity, norms, mores, customs, traditions, values, mentality, perceptions, way of li ...
of native peoples and their land; beginning with the
Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act
The Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975 (Public Law 93-638) authorized the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, and some other government agencies to enter into contracts with, a ...
of 1975, the BIA has increasingly emphasized
tribal self-determination and peer-to-peer relationships between tribal governments and federal government.
Between 1824 and 1977, the BIA was led by a total of 42 commissioners, of whom six were of indigenous descent. Since the creation of the position of Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs in 1977, all thirteen occupants up to the present day have been Indigenous, including Bay Mills Indian Community's Bryan Newland, appointed and confirmed to the position in 2021.
As of 2020, the majority of BIA employees are American Indian or Alaska Native, the most at any time in the agency's history.
Organization
Headquartered in the
Main Interior Building
The Main Interior Building, officially known as the Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior Building, located in Washington, D.C., is the headquarters of the United States Department of the Interior.
Located in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood ...
in
Washington, D.C., the BIA is headed by a bureau director who reports to the assistant secretary for Indian affairs. The current assistant secretary is
Bryan Newland.
The BIA oversees 574
federally recognized tribes
This is a list of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States of America. There are also federally recognized Alaska Native tribes. , 574 Indian tribes were legally recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) of the United ...
through four offices:
* Office of Indian Services: operates the BIA’s general assistance, disaster relief, Indian child welfare, tribal government, Indian self-determination, and
Indian Reservation Roads Program.
* Office of Justice Services (OJS): directly operates or funds law enforcement, tribal courts, and detention facilities on federal Indian lands. OJS funded 208 law enforcement agencies, consisting of 43 BIA-operated
police
The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and th ...
agencies, and 165 tribally operated agencies under contract, or compact with the OJS. The office has seven areas of activity: Criminal Investigations and Police Services, Detention/Corrections, Inspection/Internal Affairs, Tribal Law Enforcement and Special Initiatives, the Indian Police Academy, Tribal Justice Support, and Program Management. The OJS also provides oversight and technical assistance to tribal law enforcement programs when and where requested. It operates four divisions: Corrections, Drug Enforcement, the
Indian Police Academy, and Law Enforcement.
* Office of Trust Services: works with tribes and individual American Indians and Alaska Natives in the management of their trust lands, assets, and resources.
* The Office of Field Operations: oversees 12 regional offices; Alaska, Great Plains, Northwest, Southern Plains, Eastern, Navajo, Pacific, Southwest, Eastern Oklahoma, Midwest, Rocky Mountain, and Western; and 83 agencies, which carry out the mission of the bureau at the tribal level.
History
Early US agencies and legislation: Intercourse Acts
Agencies related to Native Americans originated in 1775, when the
Second Continental Congress created a trio of Indian-related agencies.
Benjamin Franklin and
Patrick Henry
Patrick Henry (May 29, 1736June 6, 1799) was an American attorney, planter, politician and orator known for declaring to the Second Virginia Convention (1775): " Give me liberty, or give me death!" A Founding Father, he served as the first a ...
were appointed among the early commissioners to negotiate treaties with Native Americans to obtain their
neutrality during the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
.
Office of Indian Trade (1806–1822)
In 1789, the
U.S. Congress placed Native American relations within the newly formed War Department. By 1806 the Congress had created a Superintendent of Indian Trade, or "Office of Indian Trade" within the War Department, who was charged with maintaining the
factory trading network of the
fur trade. The post was held by
Thomas L. McKenney from 1816 until the abolition of the factory system in 1822.
The government licensed traders to have some control in Indian territories and gain a share of the lucrative trade.
Bureau of Indian Affairs (1824–present)
The abolition of the
factory system left a vacuum within the U.S. government regarding Native American relations. The Bureau of Indian Affairs was formed on March 11, 1824, by
Secretary of War
The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of the ...
John C. Calhoun, who created the agency as a division within his department, without authorization from the
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...
. He appointed McKenney as the first head of the office, which went by several names. McKenney preferred to call it the "Indian Office", whereas the current name was preferred by Calhoun.
The Removal Era (1830–1850)
The BIA's goal to protect domestic and dependent nations, was reaffirmed by the 1831 court case
Cherokee Nation v. Georgia. The Supreme Court originally refused to hear the case, because the Cherokee nation was not an independent state and could not litigate in the federal court.
It was not until the court case
Worcester v. Georgia, when Chief Justice John Marshall allowed Native American tribes to be recognized as "domestic dependent nations." These court cases set precedent for future treaties, as more Native tribes were recognized as domestic and dependent nations.
This period was encompassed by westward expansion and the removal of Native Nations. In 1833 Georgians fought for the removal of the Cherokee Nation from the state of Georgia. Despite the rulings of Worcester v. Georgia, President Jackson and John C. Calhoun created a plan for removal. The removal of the Cherokee Nation occurred in 1838 and was accompanied by the Treaty of 1846. When reparations from the treaty were unfulfilled, the Senate Committee on the Indian Affairs made the final settlement in 1850. This settlement, "supported the position of the Cherokee that the cost of maintaining the tribesman during their removal and the years upkeep after their arrival West should be paid by the federal government, and the expense of the removal agents should be paid as well."
In 1832 Congress established the position of Commissioner of Indian Affairs. In 1849 Indian Affairs was transferred to the U.S. Department of the Interior. In 1869,
Ely Samuel Parker was the first Native American to be appointed as commissioner of Indian affairs.
Assimilation (1890–1930)
One of the most controversial policies of the Bureau of Indian Affairs was the late 19th to early 20th century decision to educate native children in separate
boarding schools
A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...
, such as the
Carlisle Indian Industrial School. With an emphasis on assimilation that prohibited them from using their indigenous languages, practices, and cultures, these schools educated to European-American culture. Another example of assimilation and Euro-American control was the Bureau of Indian Affairs tribal police force. This was designed by its agents to decrease the power of American Indian leaders.
Reform and reorganization (mid to late 20th century)
The bureau was renamed from Office of Indian Affairs to Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1947.
With the rise of American Indian
activism in the 1960s and 1970s and increasing demands for enforcement of treaty rights and sovereignty, the 1970s were a particularly turbulent period of BIA history. The rise of activist groups such as the
American Indian Movement
The American Indian Movement (AIM) is a Native American grassroots movement which was founded in Minneapolis, Minnesota in July 1968, initially centered in urban areas in order to address systemic issues of poverty, discrimination, and police br ...
(AIM) worried the U.S. government; the FBI responded both overtly and covertly (by creating
COINTELPRO
COINTELPRO (syllabic abbreviation derived from Counterintelligence, Counter Intelligence Program; 1956–1971) was a series of Covert operation, covert and illegal projects actively conducted by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation ( ...
and other programs) to suppress possible uprisings among native peoples.
As a branch of the U.S. government with personnel on
Indian reservations
An Indian reservation is an area of land held and governed by a federally recognized Native American tribal nation whose government is accountable to the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs and not to the state government in which it ...
, BIA police were involved in political actions such as:
The occupation of BIA headquarters in Washington, D.C., in 1972: On November 3, 1972, a group of around 500
American Indians with the AIM took over the BIA building, the culmination of their
Trail of Broken Treaties
The Trail of Broken Treaties (also known as the Trail of Broken Treaties Caravan and the Pan American Native Quest for Justice) was a 1972 cross-country caravan of American Indian and First Nations organizations that started on the West Coast of ...
walk. They intended to bring attention to American Indian issues, including their demands for renewed negotiation of treaties, enforcement of treaty rights and improvement in living standards. They occupied the Department of Interior headquarters from November 3 to 9, 1972.
:Feeling the government was ignoring them, the protesters vandalized the building. After a week, the protesters left, having caused $700,000 in damages. Many records were lost, destroyed or stolen, including irreplaceable treaties, deeds, and water rights records, which some Indian officials said could set the tribes back 50 to 100 years.
* The
Wounded Knee Incident of 1973, where activists at the
Pine Ridge Indian Reservation occupied land for more than two months.
* The 1975
Pine Ridge shootout (for which
Leonard Peltier
Leonard Peltier (born September 12, 1944) is a Native American activist and militant member of the American Indian Movement (AIM) who, following a controversial trial, was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of two Fe ...
was convicted of killing two
FBI agents).
The BIA was implicated in supporting controversial tribal presidents, notably
Dick Wilson
Dick Wilson (July 30, 1916 – November 18, 2007) was an American actor who was best known as grocery store manager Mr. George Whipple in more than 500 Charmin bathroom tissue television commercials (1965–89, 1999–2000).
Biography
Dick Wi ...
, who was charged with being authoritarian; using tribal funds for a private
paramilitary force, the
Guardians of the Oglala Nation (or "GOON squad"), which he employed against opponents; intimidation of voters in the 1974 election; misappropriation of funds, and other misdeeds. Many native peoples continue to oppose policies of the BIA. In particular, problems in enforcing treaties, handling records and trust land incomes were disputed.
21st century
In 2002 the United States Congress and Bureau of Indian Affairs met to discuss the bill S.1392, which established procedures for the Bureau of Indians Affairs of the Department of Interior, with respect to the tribal recognition. Bill S. 1393 was also discussed, as it ensured full and fair participation in decision making processes at the Bureau of Indian Affairs via grants. Both bills addressed what services, limitations, obligations, and responsibilities a federally recognized tribe possessed. The bills excluded any splinter groups, political factions, and any groups formed after December 31, 2002.
In 2013 the Bureau was greatly affected by
sequestration funding cuts of $800 million, which particularly affected the already-underfunded
Indian Health Service
The Indian Health Service (IHS) is an operating division (OPDIV) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). IHS is responsible for providing direct medical and public health services to members of federally-recognized Nativ ...
.
Legal issues
Employee overtime
The Bureau of Indian Affairs has been sued four times in
class action overtime lawsuits brought by the
Federation of Indian Service Employees
A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governi ...
, a
union
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''Un ...
which represents the federal civilian employees of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Bureau of Indian Education, the assistant secretary of Indian affairs and the Office of the Special Trustee for Indian Affairs. The grievances allege widespread violations of the
Fair Labor Standards Act and claim tens of millions of dollars in damages.
Trust assets
''
Cobell vs. Salazar,'' a major class action case related to trust lands, was settled in December 2009. The suit was filed against the U.S. Department of Interior, of which the BIA is a part. A major responsibility has been the management of the Indian trust accounts. This was a class-action lawsuit regarding the federal government's management and accounting of more than 300,000 individual American Indian and Alaska Native trust accounts. A settlement fund totaling $3.4 billion is to be distributed to class members. This is to compensate for claims that prior U.S. officials had mismanaged the administration of Indian trust assets. In addition, the settlement establishes a $2 billion fund enabling federally recognized tribes to voluntarily buy back and consolidate fractionated land interests.
Mission
The bureau is currently trying to evolve from a supervisory to an advisory role. However, this has been a difficult task as the BIA is known by many Indians as playing a police role in which the U.S. government historically dictated to tribes and their members what they could and could not do in accordance with treaties signed by both.
Commissioners and assistant secretaries
Commissioners and assistant secretaries of Indian Affairs include:
Heads of the Bureau of Indian Affairs
* 1822–1824
William Clark
William Clark (August 1, 1770 – September 1, 1838) was an American explorer, soldier, Indian agent, and territorial governor. A native of Virginia, he grew up in pre-statehood Kentucky before later settling in what became the state of Miss ...
* 1824–1830
Thomas L. McKenney
* 1830–1831
Samuel S. Hamilton
* 2002–2004
Terry Virden
* 2004–2005
Brian Pogue
* 2005–2007
Patrick Rasdale
* 2007–2010
Jerold L. Gidner
* 2010–2016
Michael S. Black
* 2016–2017
Weldon Loudermilk
* 2017–2018
Bryan C. Rice
* 2018–present
Darryl LaCounte
Commissioners of Indian Affairs
* 1832–1836
Elbert Herring
* 1836–1838
Carey A. Harris
* 1838–1845
Thomas Hartley Crawford
* 1845–1849
William Medill
* 1849–1850
Orlando Brown
* 1850–1853
Luke Lea
* 1853–1857
George Washington Manypenny
* 1857–1858
James W. Denver
* 1858
Charles E. Mix
* 1858–1859
James W. Denver
* 1859–1861
Alfred B. Greenwood
Alfred Burton Greenwood (July 11, 1811 – October 4, 1889) was an American attorney and a politician; he was elected to the United States and Confederate congresses as a Democrat. In 1859 he was appointed under President James Buchanan a ...
* 1861–1865
William P. Dole
* 1865–1866
Dennis N. Cooley
* 1866–1867
Lewis V. Bogy
* 1867–1869
Nathaniel G. Taylor
* 1869–1871
Ely S. Parker
* 1871–1872
Francis A. Walker
* 1873–1875
Edward Parmelee Smith
Edward Parmelee Smith (1827–1876) was a Congregational minister in Massachusetts before becoming Field Secretary for the United States Christian Commission during the American Civil War. In official positions with the American Missionary Asso ...
* 1875–1877
John Q. Smith
* 1877–1880
Ezra A. Hayt
* 1880–1881
Rowland E. Trowbridge
* 1881–1885
Hiram Price
* 1885–1888
John D. C. Atkins
* 1888–1889
John H. Oberly
* 1889–1893
Thomas Jefferson Morgan
* 1893–1897
Daniel M. Browning
* 1897–1904
William Arthur Jones
* 1904–1909
Francis E. Leupp
* 1909–1913
Robert G. Valentine
* 1913–1921
Cato Sells
* 1921–1929
Charles H. Burke
* 1929–1933
Charles J. Rhoads
* 1933–1945
John Collier
* 1945–1948
William A. Brophy
* 1948–1949
William R. Zimmerman (acting)
* 1949–1950
John R. Nichols
* 1950–1953
Dillon S. Myer
Dillon Seymour Myer (September 4, 1891 – October 21, 1982) was a United States government official who served as Director of the War Relocation Authority during World War II, Director of the United States Housing Authority, Federal Public Hou ...
* 1953–1961
Glenn L. Emmons
* 1961
John O. Crow (acting)
* 1961–1966
Philleo Nash
* 1966–1969
Robert L. Bennett
* 1969–1972
Louis R. Bruce* 1973–1976
Morris Thompson
* 1976–1977
Dr. Benjamin Reifel
Assistant Secretaries of the Interior for Indian Affairs
* 1977–1978
Forrest Gerard
* 1979–1981
William E. Hallett
* 1981–1984
Kenneth L. Smith
* 1985–1989
Ross Swimmer
* 1989–1993
Eddie Frank Brown
* 1993–1997
Ada E. Deer
Ada Deer (born 1935) is a member of the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin and a Native Americans in the United States, Native American advocate, scholar and civil servant. As an activist she opposed the federal termination of tribes from the 19 ...
* 1997–2001
Kevin Gover
* 2001
James H. McDivitt (acting)
* 2001–2003
Neal A. McCaleb
* 2003–2004
Aurene M. Martin (acting)
* 2004–2005
Dave Anderson
* 2005–2007
Jim Cason (acting)
* 2007–2008
Carl J. Artman
* 2008–2009
George T. Skibine (acting)
* 2009–2012
Larry Echo Hawk
* 2012
Donald "Del" Laverdure (acting)
* 2012–2015
Kevin K. Washburn
* 2016–2017
Lawrence S. Roberts (acting)
* 2017
Michael S. Black (acting)
* 2017–2018 John Tahsuda (acting)
* 2018–2021
Tara Sweeney
Tara MacLean Sweeney (born July 28, 1973) is an Iñupiaq American businesswoman and former government official who served as assistant secretary of the interior for Native American affairs from July 2018 to January 2021. Sweeney previously serv ...
* 2021–present
Bryan Newland
Assistant to the Secretary for Indian Affairs
* February 7, 1973 – December 4, 1973
Marvin L. Franklin
See also
*
Title 25 of the Code of Federal Regulations
*
Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada
Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to:
*Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology
* Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area
*One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...
*
Administration for Native Americans
*
American Indian Movement
The American Indian Movement (AIM) is a Native American grassroots movement which was founded in Minneapolis, Minnesota in July 1968, initially centered in urban areas in order to address systemic issues of poverty, discrimination, and police br ...
*
British Indian Department
*
Bureau of Indian Affairs Police
*
Confederate States Bureau of Indian Affairs
*
Indian agent
In United States history, an Indian agent was an individual authorized to interact with American Indian tribes on behalf of the government.
Background
The federal regulation of Indian affairs in the United States first included development of t ...
*
Indian Claims Commission
*
Indian Department
*
Indian reservations
An Indian reservation is an area of land held and governed by a federally recognized Native American tribal nation whose government is accountable to the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs and not to the state government in which it ...
*
National Indian Gaming Commission
The National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC; ) is a United States federal regulatory agency within the Department of the Interior. Congress established the agency pursuant to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act in 1988.
The commission is the only ...
*
Outline of United States federal Indian law and policy
*
United States federal recognition of Native Hawaiians
Native Hawaiians are the aboriginal people of the Hawaiian Islands. Since the involvement of the United States in the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii, federal statutes have been enacted to address conditions of Native Hawaiians, with some fe ...
References
Sources
* Belko, William S. "'John C. Calhoun and the Creation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs: An Essay on Political Rivalry, Ideology, and Policymaking in the Early Republic," ''South Carolina Historical Magazine'' 2004 105(3): 170–97.
* Cahill, Cathleen D. ''Federal Fathers and Mothers: A Social History of the United States Indian Service, 1869–1933'' (U of North Carolina Press, 2011) 368 pp
online review*
Deloria, Jr., Vine, and
David E. Wilkins, ''Tribes, Treaties, & Constitutional Tribulations'' (Austin, 1999)
*Jackson, Helen H. ''A Century of Dishonor: A Sketch of the U. S. Government's Dealings with Some of the Indian Tribes'' (1881
online edition*Leupp, F. E. ''The Indian and His Problem'' (1910
online edition*Meriam, Lewis, et al., ''The Problem of Indian Administration, Studies in Administration,'' 17 (Baltimore, 1928)
* Pevar, Stephen L. ''The Rights of Indians and Tribes'' (Carbondale, 2002)
*Prucha, Francis P. ''Atlas of American Indian Affairs'' (Lincoln, 1990)
*Prucha, Francis P. ''The Great Father: The United States Government and the American Indians'' (Abridged Edition 1986)
excerpt and text search* Schmeckebier, L. F. ''Office of Indian Affairs: History, Activities, and Organization,'' Service Monograh 48 (Baltimore 1927)
*Sutton, I. "Indian Country and the Law: Land Tenure, Tribal Sovereignty, and the States," ch. 36 in ''Law in the Western United States,'' ed. G. M. Bakken (Norman, 2000)
Primary sources
*Francis P. Prucha, ed. ''Documents of United States Indian Policy'' (3rd ed. 2000
excerpt and text search
Further reading
*
External links
*
Bureau of Indian Affairsin the
Federal RegisterA History of the Bureau of Indian Affairs*
ttps://ttu-ir.tdl.org/ttu-ir/handle/2346/49428 Bureau of Indian Affairs-collection of letters at Texas Tech Universitybr>
Broken Promises: Evaluating the Native American Health Care Systemby the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, September 2004
at
Newberry Library
Bureau of Indian Affairs correspondence, MSS SC 785at
L. Tom Perry Special Collections,
Harold B. Lee Library,
Brigham Young University
{{Authority control
Indigenous affairs ministries
Organizations based in Washington, D.C.
Government agencies established in 1824
United States public land law