Bureau of Indian Affairs

Beginning in the late 1700s, the military arm of the U.S. government had to determine its response to American Indians recently relocated and contained in the western part of the United States. In 1824, the [Page 80]U.S. War Department created the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) after several years of trying to manage various aspects of different activities surrounding American Indian tribes. Initially, the BIA had jurisdiction over trade between American Indian tribes and non-Indians (trading companies that hired beaver and buffalo hunters who hunted on Indian land), removal and relocation from historical and traditional land bases to reservations and other containment (prisoners of war or crimes committed against non-Indians), and monitoring in an attempt to limit exploitation of natural resources (gold, water, and land). Unfortunately, the BIA was lacking in its efforts and possessed little power to counter the growing power of Congress, which demonstrated an increasing desire to acquire lands held by treaties between the federal government and the various tribes. In 1884, the BIA was transferred to the U.S. Department of the Interior (USDI), which had regulatory authority over lands and natural resources. Little consideration was given to the fact that, based on treaties, the health, education, and welfare of the American Indian people were majority responsibilities of the BIA, and these concerns ran counter to the purpose of the USDI. The Commission of Indian Affairs, as head of the BIA, quickly became the regulatory authority on marriages, orphans, lands, education, health, resolving disputes, clarifying language, and any other aspects of life involving the American Indians. Eventually, the BIA evolved into primarily a land-administration agency, a process speeded up by the Dawes Act of 1887, the Burke Act of 1906, and the Wheeler-Howard Act of 1934, which resulted in the BIA becoming the trustee over American Indian lands, funds, and resources (i.e., minerals, grazing, leases). It became apparent that increased monitoring and programmatic oversight was necessary within the BIA, leading to different departments being established to regulate housing, education, land, resources, leases, construction, banking, and especially trust issues. All activities involving enrolled American Indians and federally recognized tribes were regulated and controlled by the BIA. Once Alaska became a state, the BIA began to control and monitor programs for Alaska Natives. One effort to decrease the need for the BIA was the termination policy of the federal government in the 1950s. More than 100 tribes were terminated or lost their federal recognition status, and Congress passed Public Law 280, which allowed states to regulate tribes. It was not until the 1960s and the Self-Determination Act of 1975 that changes occurred, creating the climate for many but not all tribes to govern their own affairs without oversight by the BIA. (Certain PL-280 states still maintain control over some federally recognized tribes.) Since then, the BIA has assisted tribes in becoming more independent and moving toward self governance. The BIA is no longer a regulatory agency for federally recognized tribes; however, it does monitor federal funds contracted by tribes for services, including police, courts, education, and social services. Many tribes have demonstrated their ability to conduct their own government systems and have managed to maintain independence from the BIA. The BIA continues to provide for several boarding schools both on and off reservations for American Indian and Alaska Native children. The U.S. government still has a trustee responsibility that is primarily managed within the Department of the Interior and by the BIA. The BIA remains the agency that receives applications from non–federally recognized tribes seeking federal recognition and determines whether the tribes in question achieve the status of being federally recognized. The BIA has come under increased scrutiny regarding the mismanagement of boarding schools and moneys involved in the Individual Indian Accounts.

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