Bureau of Indian Affairs
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The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) is an agency of the federal government of the United States within the Department of the Interior charged with the administration and management of 55.7 million acres (87,000 sq. miles or 225,000 km²) of land held in trust by the United States for Native Americans in the United States, Native American Tribes and Alaska Natives. In addition, the Bureau of Indian Affairs provides education services to approximately 48,000 Indians. It is currently headed by George Skibine.
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History
Although the bureau, which was called the Office of Indian Affairs, was formed in 1824, similar agencies had existed in the U.S. government as far back as 1775, when a trio of Indian agencies were created by the Second Continental Congress. Benjamin Franklin and Patrick Henry were among the early commissioners, who were charged with negotiating treaties with Native Americans and obtaining their neutrality during the American Revolutionary War. In 1789, the United States Congress placed Native American relations within the newly-formed War Department. By 1806, the Congress had created a Superintendent 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. In 1832 Congress established the position of Commissioner of Indian Affairs. In 1869, Ely Samuel Parker became the first commissioner of Indian affairs who was himself an Indian.
The abolition of the factory system left a vacuum within the U.S. government regarding Native American relations. The current Bureau of Indian Affairs was formed on March 11, 1824, by Secretary of War John C. Calhoun, who created the agency without authorization from the United States Congress. McKenney was appointed the first head of the office, which went by several names at first. McKenney preferred to call it the "Indian Office", whereas the current name was preferred by Calhoun. Like its predecessors, the bureau was originally a division of the Department of War. In 1849 it was transferred to the Department of the Interior. The bureau was renamed to Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1947 (from the original Office of Indian Affairs).
The 1970's were a particularly turbulent period of BIA history.[1] During this time, the rise of vocal activist groups such as American Indian Movement worried the U.S. Government, who reacted both overtly and covertly (through COINTELPRO and other programs)to supress possible uprisings among native peoples.[2][3][4] As a branch of the U.S. government, BIA police were involved in political actions such as the occupation of Wounded Knee[5] and the Pine Ridge shootout in which Leonard Peltier was accused of killing two FBI agents, as well as the occupation of BIA headquarters in Washington, D.C. in 1972.[6] The BIA also assisted intensively in the establishment of infamous tribal authorities such as Dick Wilson, who was seen as a neo-dictator for his unabashed use of violent "GOON"(Guardians Of the Oglala Nation) squads, open misappropriation of funds, and other controversial actions.[7] Because many of these issues, particularly the continued imprisonment of Leonard Peltier, are still seen as unresolved today, the BIA remains a controversial agency among native peoples.
Currently
The Bureau of Indian Affairs is currently involved in a class-action lawsuit brought by Native American representatives against the United States government; see Cobell v. Kempthorne. The plaintiffs claim that the U.S. government has incorrectly accounted for Indian trust assets, which belong to individual Native Americans (as beneficial owners) but are managed by the Department of the Interior as the fiduciary trustee.
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 remembered by many Native Americans 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.[8]
Commissioners and Assistant Secretaries
Commissioners of Indian Affairs[9]
- 1824-1830 Thomas L. McKenney
- 1830-1832 Samuel S. Hamilton
- 1832-1836 Elbert Herring
- 1836-1838 Carey A. Harris
- 1838-1845 T. Hartley Crawford
- 1845-1849 William Meddill
- 1849-1850 Orlando Brown
- 1850-1853 Luke Lea
- 1853-1857 George W. Manypenny
- 1857-1858 James W. Denver
- 1858-1858 Charles E. Mix
- 1858-1861 Albert B. Greenwood
- 1861-1865 William P. Dole
- 1865-1866 Dennis N. Cooley
- 1866-1869 Lewis V. Bogley
- 1869-1871 Ely S. Parker
- 1871-1871 H.R. Clum (acting)
- 1871-1872 Francis A. Walker
- 1872-1873 H.R. Clum (acting)
- 1873-1875 Edward P. Smith
- 1875-1877 John Q. Smith
- 1877-1880 Ezra A. Hayt
- 1880-1880 E.M. Marble (acting)
- 1880-1881 R.E. Trowbridge
- 1881-1884 Hiram Price
- 1885-1887 John D.C. Atkins
- 1887-1889 John H. Oberly
- 1889-1893 Thomas J. Morgan
- 1893-1897 Daniel M. Browning
- 1897-1905 William A. Jones
- 1905-1909 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
- 1953-1961 Glenn L. Emmons
- 1961-1966 Philleo Nash
- 1966-1969 Robert L. Bennett
- 1969-1972 Louis R. Bruce
- 1973-1976 Morris Thompson
Assistant Secretaries of the Interior for Indian Affairs[9]
- 1977-1981 Forrest Gerard
- 1981-1984 Kenneth L. Smith
- 1985-1989 Ross Swimmer
- 1989-1993 Eddie Frank Brown
- 1993-1997 Ada Deer
- 1997-2001 Kevin Gover
- 2001-2001 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
- 2008-2008 George Skibine (acting)
- 2008- Jerold Gidner (acting)
See also
References
- ^ # Collective Protest and Legitimacy of Authority: Theory and Research
- Philip Worchel, Philip G. Hester and Philip S. Kopala
- The Journal of Conflict Resolution, Vol. 18, No. 1 (Mar., 1974), pp. 37-54
- ^ The COINTELPRO PAPERS - Chapter 7: COINTELPRO - AIM
- ^ COINTELPRO: The Untold American Story
- ^ COINTELPRO 70s WAH
- ^ http://www.jstor.org/pss/1185806
- ^ American Indian Rights Activist Vernon Bellecourt - washingtonpost.com
- ^ Agents of Repression: The FBI's Secret Wars Against the Black Panther Party and the American Indian Movement By Ward Churchill, Jim Vander Wall Published by South End Press, 2002
- ^ From War to Self-Determination: the Bureau of Indian Affairs
- ^ a b U.S. government departments and offices, etc
External links
- BIA home page
- A History of the Bureau of Indian Affairs
- Background information about the Cobell Litigation
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