Skip over navigation
Reference Center
Encyclopedia
Dictionary
Thesaurus

Sponsored Links

More Sponsored Links For:

Bureau of Indian Affairs
Columbia Encyclopedia entry: Indian Affairs, Bureau of
Indian Affairs, Bureau of, created (1824) in the U.S. War Dept. and transferred (1849) to the U.S. Dept. of the Interior. The War Dept. managed Native American affairs after 1789, but a separate bureau was not set up for many years. It had jurisdiction over trade with Native Americans, their removal to the West, their protection from exploitation, and their concentration on reservations. Because of wide dissatisfaction in the West over army administration of Native American affairs, the responsibility was given to the Dept. of the Interior and reorganized. The new bureau was no more successful than its predecessor in preventing wars with Native Americans or in protecting their rights. The Bureau of Indian Affairs instead evolved primarily into a land-administering agency, a process speeded up by the Dawes Act of 1887, the Burke Act of 1906, and the Wheeler-Howard Act of 1934, now acting as trustee over Native American lands and funds. The bureau also promotes agricultural and economic development, provides a health program, social services, Native American schools, and reclamation projects for Alaska Natives and Native Americans in the United States. The Bureau of Indian Affairs has also been officially called the Office of Indian Affairs and the Indian Service. Beginning in the early 1970s, Native American civil-rights groups, such as the American Indian Movement, began actively protesting their dissatisfaction with the bureau; in 1997 the bureau was accused by Interior Dept. auditors of mismanaging money owed to Native American tribes and individuals.

The Columbia Encyclopedia. Copyright © 2001-09 Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

Wikipedia search results for: Bureau of Indian Affairs
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Bureau of Indian Affairs is an agency of the federal government of the United States within the US Department of the Interior charged with the administration and management of 55.7 million acres of land held in trust by the United States for Native Americans in the United States, Native American Tribes and Alaska Natives. The Bureau of Indian Affairs is one of two Bureaus under the jurisdiction of the Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs: the Bureau of Indian Affairs and The Bureau of Indian Education, which provides education services to approximately 48,000 Native Americans. Kevin Skenandore is the current Acting Director of the Bureau of Indian...more »
Columbia Encyclopedia search results: Bureau of Indian Affairs
Results 1 - 8  of 8
  • American Indian Movement

    American Indian Movement (AIM), organization of the Native American civil-rights movement, founded in 1968. Its purpose is to encourage self-determination among Native Americans and to establi...

  • Dawes Act

    Dawes Act or General Allotment Act, 1887, passed by the U.S. Congress to provide for the granting of landholdings (allotments, usually 160 acres/65 hectares) to individual Native Americans, re...

  • Gallup

    Gallup, town (1990 pop. 19,154), alt. 6,515 ft (1,986 m), seat of McKinley co., NW N.Mex., on the Puerco River near the Ariz. line; inc. 1891. It is a rail and trade center in a large mining, ...

  • Interior, United States Department of the

    Interior, United States Department of the, federal executive department established in 1849, delegated custodian of U.S. natural resources, and whose head, the Secretary of the Interior, has c...

  • War Department, United States

    War Department, United States, federal executive department organized (1789) to administer the military establishment. It was reconstituted (1947) as the Dept. of the Army when the military ad...

  • Pueblo, indigenous people of North America

    Pueblo, name given by the Spanish to the sedentary Native Americans who lived in stone or adobe communal houses in what is now the SW United States. The term pueblo is also used for the villag...

  • secret police

    Secret police, policing organization operating in secrecy for the political purposes of its government, often with terroristic procedures. Enforcement of the law has required, in nearly all so...

  • United States

    United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest coun...

Related Encyclopedia Matches

Toggle Results

Video Results

powered by Truveo
more video »
Toggle Results

Reference Center To Go

Get Dictionary at your fingertips!

Download the Toolbar Now
About This Page | Browse Directory | Tell Us What You Think
© 2009 ReferenceCenter.com. All Rights Reserved.