Legal Status
Indian Affairs Bureau
The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) was created as part of the War Department in 1824 and transferred to the Department of the Interior when the latter was established in 1849. The mission of BIA is to fulfill its trust responsibilities and promote self-determination on behalf of federally recognized tribal governments, American Indians, and Alaska Natives. BIA provides services directly or through contracts, grants, or compacts to approximately 1.9 million American Indians and Alaska Natives, members of 562 federally recognized Indian tribes in the 48 contiguous United States and Alaska.
- Agency URL:
- http://www.bia.gov/
- Parent Agency
- Interior Department
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Tribal Transportation Program
This final rule updates the Tribal Transportation Program regulations (formerly the Indian Reservation Roads Program) to comply with statutory updates. The Tribal Transportation Program is a program to address the surface transportation needs of Tribes. This rule reflects statutory changes in the delivery options for the program, clarifies the...
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Federal Acknowledgment of American Indian Tribes
This rule revises regulations governing the process and criteria by which the Secretary acknowledges an Indian tribe. The revisions seek to make the process and criteria more transparent, promote consistent implementation, and increase timeliness and efficiency, while maintaining the integrity and substantive rigor of the process. For decades,...
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Tribal Transportation Program
This proposed rule would update the Tribal Transportation Program regulations (formerly the Indian Reservation Roads Program) to comply with the current surface transportation authorization, Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century, as extended, reflect changes in the delivery options for the program that have occurred since the regulation...
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Federal Acknowledgment of American Indian Tribes
On May 22, 2014, the Department of the Interior announced the availability of a proposed rule to revise regulations governing the process and criteria by which the Secretary acknowledges an Indian tribe. We have since received several requests for extension of the comment period and additional public hearings. This notice extends the comment...
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Federal Acknowledgment of American Indian Tribes
This proposed rule would revise regulations governing the process and criteria by which the Secretary acknowledges an Indian tribe. The revisions seek to make the process and criteria more transparent, promote consistent implementation, and increase timeliness and efficiency, while maintaining the integrity of the process. The current process...
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Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustments; Annual Adjustments
This rule provides for annual adjustments to the level of civil monetary penalties contained in Bureau of Indian Affairs (Bureau) regulations to account for inflation under the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidance.
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Proposed Membership of the Bureau of Indian Education Accountability Negotiated Rulemaking Committee
The Secretary of the Interior has selected proposed members to form the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) Accountability Negotiated Rulemaking Committee (Committee) which will recommend revisions to the existing regulations to implement the Secretary's responsibility to define the standards, assessments, and accountability system for...
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Land Acquisitions; Craig Tribal Association, Craig, Alaska
The Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs made a final agency determination to acquire 1.08 acres, more or less, of land in trust for the Craig Tribal Association, Alaska, for economic development and other purposes on January 10, 2017.
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Indian Entities Recognized and Eligible To Receive Services From the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs
This notice publishes the current list of 567 Tribal entities recognized and eligible for funding and services from the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) by virtue of their status as Indian Tribes. The list is updated from the notice published on May 4, 2016 (81 FR 26826).
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Identifying Lands Subject to Secretarial Order of Restoration of February 22, 1945
On February 22, 1945, the Secretary of the Interior issued an Order restoring to the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians of Minnesota (``Tribe'') certain lands that the Tribe had previously ceded to the United States for use by non-Indians. The lands restored to the Tribe by the 1945 Order are lands that were continuously held in trust by the...
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Reservation Proclamations
The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) has updated its Fee-to- Trust Handbook to include procedural guidance for its employees on processing reservation proclamations, including simultaneous requests for trust acquisition and reservation proclamations.
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Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians; Amendments to Liquor Ordinance
This notice publishes amendments to the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians Liquor Ordinance, Title 14, Chapter 4. In 2016, the Grand Traverse Tribal Council enacted the amendments to the Liquor Ordinance. The amended Liquor Ordinance supersedes the existing Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians Liquor Ordinance that...
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Guidelines for Implementing the Indian Child Welfare Act
This notice announces the availability of the Department's new Guidelines for Implementing the Indian Child Welfare Act. These guidelines are intended to assist those involved in child custody proceedings in understanding and uniformly applying the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) and the Department's regulations. All such parties-- including the...
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Indian Gaming; Tribal-State Class III Gaming Compacts Taking Effect in the State of New Mexico
The Pueblo of Santa Ana and the State of New Mexico entered into a compact governing Class III gaming. This notice announces that the compact is taking effect.
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Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Tule River Tribe's Proposed Fee-to-Trust and Eagle Mountain Casino Relocation Project, Tulare County, California
This notice advises the public that the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), as lead agency, intends to gather information necessary for preparing an environmental impact statement (EIS) in connection with the Tule River Tribe's (Tribe) proposed Eagle Mountain Casino Relocation Project in Tulare County, California. This notice also opens public...