The BIA works withtribal 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.[4] Educational services are provided byBureau of Indian Education—the only other agency under the Assistant Secretary for Indian affairs—while health care is the responsibility of theU.S. Department of Health and Human Services through itsIndian Health Service.[5][6]
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.[4][7] First headed byBenjamin Franklin, the committee oversaw trade and treaty relations with various indigenous peoples, until the establishment of the Bureau of Indian Affairs bySecretary of WarJohn 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.[4]
The BIA's mission and mandate historically reflected the U.S. government's prevailing policy offorced assimilation of native peoples and the annexation of their land; beginning with theIndian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975, the BIA has increasingly emphasized tribalself-determination and peer-to-peer relationships between tribal governments and federal government.[4]
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.[4] As of 2020,[update] the majority of BIA employees are American Indian or Alaska Native, the most at any time in the agency's history.[4]
Headquartered in theMain Interior Building inWashington, D.C.,[8] the BIA is headed by a bureau director who reports to the assistant secretary for Indian affairs. The current assistant secretary, exercising the delegated authority of the Assistant Secretary Indian Affairs isScott Davis.
Office of Indian Services: operates the BIA's general assistance, disaster relief, Indian child welfare, tribal government, Indian self-determination, andIndian Reservation Roads Program.
Office of Justice Services (OJS): directly operates or funds law enforcement, tribal courts, and detention facilities on federal Indian lands.[9] OJS funded 208 law enforcement agencies, consisting of 43 BIA-operatedpolice 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, theIndian Police Academy, and Law Enforcement.[10]
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.
Ely S. Parker was the first Native American to be appointed as Commissioner of Indian affairs (1869–1871).Cato Sells, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1913
Early US agencies and legislation: Intercourse Acts
In 1789, theU.S. Congress placed Native American relations within the newly formed War Department. By 1806 the Congress had created aSuperintendent of Indian Trade, or "Office of Indian Trade"[12] within the War Department, who was charged with maintaining theUnited States Government Fur Trade Factory System. The post was held byThomas 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.
The abolition of thefactory system left a vacuum within the U.S. government regarding Native American relations. TheBureau of Indian Affairs was formed on March 11, 1824, bySecretary of WarJohn C. Calhoun, who created the agency as a division within his department, without authorization from theUnited States Congress.[13] 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 Bureau was initially organized by region, with commissions for Superintendents of Indian Affairs granted to prominent citizens in each region of the southern, midwestern and western United States. These superindenents were authorized to negotiate with tribes and oversawIndian agents in their assigned region.[14][15] The bureau was eventually reorganized in 1878, with superintendencies removed. These were eventually replaced with regional offices, which continue today.
The BIA's goal to protect domestic and dependent nations, was reaffirmed by the 1831 court caseCherokee 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.[16] It was not until the court caseWorcester 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.[17]
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."[16]
In 1832 Congress established the position ofCommissioner of Indian Affairs. In 1849 Indian Affairs was transferred to the newly established U.S. Department of the Interior. In 1869,Ely Samuel Parker was the first Native American to be appointed as commissioner of Indian affairs.
One of the most controversial policies of the Bureau of Indian Affairs was the late 19th to early 20th century decision toAmericanize native children via education inboarding schools, such as theCarlisle Indian Industrial School. These boarding schools separated students from their family and local cultures, training students to behave in accordance with the prevailing standard of "civilization": Anglo-American cultural practices. The goal was to enable native children to more easily leave their reservations viacultural assimilation into American society (at the time natives were viewed as trapped on their reservations). The boarding schools prohibited students from using their indigenous languages, practices, and cultures.[18]
Another force for 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.[19]
Reform and reorganization (mid to late 20th century)
1940Indians at Work magazine, published by the Office of Indian Affairs, predecessor agency to the Bureau of Indian Affairs
The bureau was renamed fromOffice of Indian Affairs toBureau of Indian Affairs in 1947.
In 1965 the headquarters of the Bureau of Indian Affairs was moved from the Interior Department's main building at 18th St. NW. and C St. NW., Washington, D.C. to a separate building a few blocks away at 1951 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, D. C.[20]
With the rise of American Indianactivism 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.[21] The rise of activist groups such as theAmerican Indian Movement (AIM) worried the U.S. government; the FBI responded both overtly and covertly (by creatingCOINTELPRO and other programs) to suppress possible uprisings among native peoples.[22]
As a branch of the U.S. government with personnel onIndian reservations, 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 theirTrail of Broken Treaties 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.[23]
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.[24][25][citation needed]
The BIA was implicated in supporting controversial tribal presidents, notablyDick Wilson, who was charged with being authoritarian; using tribal funds for a privateparamilitary force, theGuardians 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.[27] Many native peoples continue to oppose policies of the BIA. In particular, problems in enforcing treaties, handling records and trust land incomes were disputed.
In 2002 Congress worked with the Bureau to prepare bill S.1392, which established procedures for tribal recognition. A separate bill S. 1393 ensured full and fair participation in decision-making processes at the Bureau 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.[28]
The Bureau of Indian Affairs has been sued four times inclass action overtime lawsuits brought by theFederation of Indian Service Employees,[31] aunion 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 theFair Labor Standards Act and claim tens of millions of dollars in damages.
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.[32]
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.[33]
From 1806 until 1822, relations with the North American tribes were regulated by the Office of Indian Trade within the Treasury Department. Three men were appointed during this time period as superintendents to negotiate treaties with and regulate trade with the native Americans.
On the same day Congress abolished the trading houses in May 1822, Congress authorized a new position of superintendent of Indian affairs, with President James Monroe nominating, and the Senate confirming,William Clark as superintendent of Indian affairs. In 1824, the office was reorganized and William Clark's position became subservient to the new chief clerk of the Indian Office.[38]
The following three persons had served as chief clerk of the Indian Office within the War Department from 1824 until the office was transferred to the Interior Department in 1832:[39]
^"Home". Bureau of Indian Affairs. RetrievedJune 23, 2022.1849 C Street NW Washington, DC 20240 –Identified as the Main Interior Building here: "The meeting will be held at 1849 C Street, NW, Main Interior Building,[...]"
^abHarmon, George Dewey (1941).Sixty Years of Indian Affairs. New York: The University of North Carolina Press. pp. 174–196.
^Jackson, Curtis (1977).A History of The Bureau of Indian Affairs And Its Activities Among Indians. San Francisco, California: R & E Research Associates. p. 59.
^David Wallace Adams,Education for Extinction: American Indians and the Boarding School Experience, 1875–1928 (1995) pp 12-16; seeonline evaluation of the book.
^Lyden, Fremont (1992).Native Americans and Public Policy. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press. pp. 23–41.
^"BIA Moves to New Quarters" (Press release). U.S. Department of the Interior. May 18, 1965. RetrievedJune 9, 2025.
^Philip Worchel, Philip G. Hester and Philip S. Kopala, "Collective Protest and Legitimacy of Authority: Theory and Research,"The Journal of Conflict Resolution, 18 (1) 1974): 37–54
^John Sanchez, et al. "Rhetorical Exclusion: The Government's Case Against American Indian Activists, AIM, and Leonard Peltier."American Indian Culture and Research Journal, 23(2) (1999): 31+.
^Congress, United States (2003).Tribal Recognition : Hearing before the Committee on Indian Affairs, United States Senate, One Hundred Seventh Congress, Second Session, on S. 1392, to Establish Procedures for the Bureau of Indian Affairs of the Department of the Interior with Respect to Tribal Recognition and S. 1393, to Provide Grants to Ensure Full and Fair Participation in Certain Decision making Processes at the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Washington D.C.: Washington D.C. United States Government Printing Office. pp. 1–3.
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.ISSN0038-3082
Brophy, William A., and Aberle, Sophie D.The Indian: America's Unfinished Business. Report of the Commission on the Rights, Liberties, and Responsibilities of the American Indian (University of Oklahoma Press, 1966).
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
Champagne, Duane. "Organizational change and conflict: A case study of the Bureau of Indian Affairs."American Indian Culture and Research Journal 7.3 (1983).online
Danziger Jr, Edmund J. "The Indian Office During The Civil War: Impotence in Indian Affairs."South Dakota History 5 (1974): 52–72.
Fixico, Donald L.Bureau of Indian Affairs (ABC-CLIO, 2012)
Jackson, Curtis E. and Marcia J. Galli.A history of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and its activities among Indians (1977)online
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 highly critical and widely read in 1880s
Lambert, Valerie. "The big black box of Indian country: The Bureau of Indian Affairs and the federal-Indian relationship."American Indian Quarterly 40.4 (2016): 333–363.online
Lambert, Valerie. "Rethinking American Indian and Non-Indian Relations in the United States and Exploring Tribal Sovereignty: Perspectives from Indian Country and from Inside the Bureau of Indian Affairs."PoLAR: Political and Legal Anthropology Review 40.2 (2017): 278–294.online
Leupp, F. E.The Indian and His Problem (1910)online edition
McCarthy, Robert. "The Bureau of Indian Affairs and the federal trust obligation to American Indians."Brigham Young University Journal of Public Law 19 (2004): 1–160+.online, comprehensive overview
Meriam, Lewis, et al.,The Problem of Indian Administration, Studies in Administration, (Johns Hopkins, 1928), 898 pp; a major scholarly overview;[1]
Nankano, Yumiko. "The Campaign for Civilization or Removal: Thomas L. McKenney and Federal Indian Affairs in the Formative Years"Bulletin of the Faculty of Humanities, Seikei University No.48 (2013) 85+online
Officer, James E. "The Bureau of Indian affairs since 1945: an assessment."The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 436.1 (1978): 61–72.
Osburn, Katherine M. B. " 'To build up the morals of the tribe': Southern Ute women's sexual behavior and the Office of Indian Affairs, 1895-1932."Journal of Women's history 9.3 (1997): 10–27.excerpt
Pevar, Stephen L.The Rights of Indians and Tribes (Southern Illinois UP, 2002)
Porter, Frank W.The Bureau of Indian Affairs (1988), for secondary schoolsonline
Prucha, Francis P.Atlas of American Indian Affairs (U of Nebraska Press, 1990)
Prucha, Francis P.The Great Father: The United States Government and the American Indians (Abridged Edition 1986)online
Rockwell, Stephen J.Indian Affairs and the Administrative State in the Nineteenth Century (2010)online
Schmeckebier, L. F.Office of Indian Affairs: History, Activities, and Organization, Service Monograph 48 (Johns Hopkins, 1927)online
STUART, PAUL HENRY. "THE U.S. OFFICE OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, 1865-1900: THE INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF A FORMAL ORGANIZATION" (PhD dissertation, The University of Wisconsin - Madison; ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 1978. 7814288).
Sutton, I. "Indian Country and the Law: Land Tenure, Tribal Sovereignty, and the States," ch. 36 inLaw in the Western United States, ed. G. M. Bakken (U Oklahoma Press, 2000)
Taylor, Theodore W.The Bureau of Indian Affairs (Routledge, 2019)online
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Treglia, Gabriella. "Cultural Pluralism or Cultural Imposition? Examining the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Education Reforms during the Indian New Deal (1933–1945)."Journal of the Southwest 61.4 (2019): 821–862.excerpt
On the 1972 takeover by Native American activists:
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