Jack Stevens: Time to address the BIA’s Reputation

I just finished reading David Crow’s The Pale-Faced Lie, A True Story (2019, Sandra Jonas Publishing, 349 pages), a harrowing memoir of child abuse committed by a White, ex-con father who masqueraded as a Cherokee Indian while working for the BIA on the Navajo Reservation. It’s at times a painful read but ends triumphantly and is ultimately uplifting.

Towards the book’s conclusion, I was struck by Crow’s bleak assessment of the BIA:

It occurred to me that Navajo people were victims of the worst of the

political system, and even those who wanted to help them didn't have

a clue what they were about. These misguided public servants reminded

me of the easterners who came to the reservation to experience the pure

Native American spirit . . . only to find that Navajos lived in third-world

poverty with little hope of better lives. They left as soon as possible, never

to return.

I grew up hating the BIA. Bureaucrats controlled every aspect of Navajo life,

taking away most of their freedom under the guise of knowing what was best

for them. It hadn't worked. Surely, there had to be a better way.

Sadly, Crow’s opinion of the BIA is widely shared. We've all heard the jokes -- "BIA really stands for 'Bossing Indians Around'"; "When Custer left for Little Bighorn, he told the BIA, 'Don't do anything until I get back.'"

Why the enmity?

Over the years, I have known and worked with many BIA employees. With few exceptions, I have found them to be conscientiously devoted to Indian people and supportive of their nationhood. This would seem to be natural given that, with statutory Indian preference, virtually all BIA employees are Native and many grew up on reservations. Many of them have parents or other close relatives who worked for the BIA and are rightfully proud of that legacy. I detect no lack of empathy among them.

The problem may be focus. Over time, the BIA has become simply a permitting agency more concerned with trust resources than the people who depend upon them. We can see this in the cutbacks to economic development programs within the BIA and in the lack of sincere government-to-government consultations with tribes.

In any case, the BIA cries out for reform. Human capital is not the obstacle. As always, change must begin at the top. Admitting the problem would be a good start.