Indian Affairs Head Makes Apology
2010 Announcement of
U.S. Support for the United Nations
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
U.S. Interior Secretary Norton Ruled in Contempt
September 17, 2002
By Deborah Charles
An angry federal judge on Tuesday found Interior Secretary Gale Norton in contempt for failing to comply
with his orders to fix oversight problems with and produce records of American Indian trust funds. In a
scathing 267-page opinion, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth added
Norton and Assistant Secretary of Interior for Indian Affairs Neal McCaleb to the list of
government
officials he has found in contempt in relation to a civil lawsuit filed in 1996 by five
American
Indians claiming the federal government mismanaged billions of dollars in the trust funds.
In 1999, Lamberth held then - Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt and then -Treasury
Secretary Robert Rubin in contempt for failing to comply with orders regarding the trust
funds.
"In February of 1999, at the end of the first contempt trial in this matter, I stated that 'I have never seen more egregious misconduct by the federal government," Lamberth wrote. "Now at the conclusion of the second contempt trial in this action, I stand corrected. The Department of Interior has truly outdone itself this time." <snip> Indian Giving
Cowboy Banks Get Big Bucks as Indians Get Little by Ann Woolner
In 1989, the Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs investigated their business and released a scathing report accusing Koch Oil of "a widespread and sophisticated scheme to steal crude oil from Indians and others through fraudulent mismeasuring." The Kochs admitted that they had improperly taken thirty-one million dollars' worth of crude oil, but said that it had been accidental. Charles Koch told committee investigators that oil measurement is "a very uncertain art." To defend its reputation, Koch Industries hired Robert Strauss, then a premier Washington lobbyist; the company soon opened an office in the city. A grand jury was convened to investigate the allegations, but it eventually disbanded, without issuing criminal charges. According to the Senate report, after the committee hearings Koch operatives delved into the personal lives of committee staffers, even questioning an ex-wife. Senate investigators were upset by the Kochs' tactics. Kenneth Ballen, the counsel to the Senate committee, said, "These people have amassed such unaccountable power!"
THE APOLOGY
September 8, 2000
Remarks of Kevin Gover, Assistant Secretary,
Indian Affairs Department of the Interior at the Ceremony Acknowledging the 175th Anniversary of the
Establishment of the Bureau of Indian Affairs
In March of 1824, President James Monroe established the Office of Indian Affairs in the Department of
War.
Its mission was to conduct the nation's business with regard to Indian affairs. We have come together
today to mark the first 175 years of the institution now known as the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
It is appropriate that we do so in the first year of a new century and a new millennium, a time when our
leaders are reflecting on what lies ahead and preparing for those challenges. Before looking ahead,
though,
this institution must first look back and reflect on what it has wrought and, by doing so, come to know
that
this is no occasion for celebration; rather it is time for reflection and contemplation, a time for
sorrowful truths to be spoken, a time for contrition.
We must first reconcile ourselves to the fact that the works of this agency have at various times
profoundly
harmed the communities it was meant to serve. From the very beginning, the Office of Indian Affairs was an
instrument by which the United States enforced its ambition against the Indian nations and Indian people
who
stood in its path. And so, the first mission of this institution was to execute the removal of the
southeastern tribal nations. By threat, deceit, and force, these great tribal nations were made to march
1,000 miles to the west, leaving thousands of their old, their young and their infirm in hasty graves
along
the Trail of Tears.
As the nation looked to the West for more land, this agency participated in the ethnic cleansing that
befell
the western tribes. War necessarily begets tragedy; the war for the West was no exception. Yet in these
more
enlightened times, it must be acknowledged that the deliberate spread of disease, the decimation of the
mighty bison herds, the use of the poison alcohol to destroy mind and body, and the cowardly killing of
women and children made for tragedy on a scale so ghastly that it cannot be dismissed as merely the
inevitable consequence of the clash of competing ways of life.
This agency and the good people in it failed in the mission to prevent the devastation. And so great
nations
of patriot warriors fell. We will never push aside the memory of unnecessary and violent death at places
such as Sand Creek, the banks of the Washita River, and Wounded Knee. Nor did the consequences of war have
to include the futile and destructive efforts to annihilate Indian cultures.
After the devastation of tribal economies and the deliberate creation of tribal dependence on the services
provided by this agency, this agency set out to destroy all things Indian. This agency forbade the
speaking
of Indian languages, prohibited the conduct of traditional religious activities, outlawed traditional
government, and made Indian people ashamed of who they were. Worst of all, the Bureau of Indian Affairs
committed these acts against the children entrusted to its boarding schools, brutalizing them emotionally,
psychologically, physically, and spiritually.
Even in this era of self -determination, when the Bureau of Indian Affairs is at long last serving as an
advocate for Indian people in an atmosphere of mutual respect, the legacy of these misdeeds haunts us. The
trauma of shame, fear and anger has passed from one generation to the next, and manifests itself in the
rampant alcoholism, drug abuse, and domestic violence that plague Indian country. Many of our people live
lives of unrelenting tragedy as Indian families suffer the ruin of lives by alcoholism, suicides made of
shame and despair, and violent death at the hands of one another. So many of the maladies suffered today
in
Indian country result from the failures of this agency. Poverty, ignorance, and disease have been the
product of this agency's work.
And so today I stand before you as the leader of an institution that in the past has committed acts so
terrible that they infect, diminish, and destroy the lives of Indian people decades later, generations
later. These things occurred despite the efforts of many good people with good hearts who sought to
prevent
them. These wrongs must be acknowledged if the healing is to begin.
I do not speak today for the United States. That is the province of the nation's elected leaders, and
I
would not presume to speak on their behalf. I am empowered, however, to speak on behalf of this agency,
the
Bureau of Indian Affairs, and I am quite certain that the words that follow reflect the hearts of
its10,000
employees.
Let us begin by expressing our profound sorrow for what this agency has done in the past. Just like you,
when we think of these misdeeds and their tragic consequences, our hearts break and our grief is as pure
and
complete as yours. We desperately wish that we could change this history, but of course we cannot.
On behalf of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, I extend this formal apology to Indian people for the
historical
conduct of this agency. And while the BIA employees of today did not commit these wrongs, we acknowledge
that the institution we serve did. We accept this inheritance, this legacy of racism and inhumanity. And
by
accepting this legacy, we accept also the moral responsibility of putting things right.
We therefore begin this important work anew, and make a new commitment to the people and communities that
we
serve, a commitment born of the dedication we share with you to the cause of renewed hope and prosperity
for
Indian country.
Never again will this agency stand silent when hate and violence are committed against Indians. Never
again
will we allow policy to proceed from the assumption that Indians possess less human genius than the other
races. Never again will we be complicit in the theft of Indian property. Never again will we appoint false
leaders who serve purposes other than those of the tribes. Never again will we allow unflattering and
stereotypical images of Indian people to deface the halls of government or lead the American people to
shallow and ignorant beliefs about Indians. Never again will we attack your religions, your languages,
your
rituals, or any of your tribal ways. Never again will we seize your children, nor teach them to be ashamed
of who they are. Never again.
We cannot yet ask your forgiveness, not while the burdens of this agency's history weigh so heavily on
tribal communities. What we do ask is that, together, we allow the healing to begin: As you return to your
homes, and as you talk with your people, please tell them that time of dying is at its end. Tell your
children that the time of shame and fear is over. Tell your young men and women to replace their angerwith
hope and love for their people.
Together, we must wipe the tears of seven generations. Together, we must allow our broken hearts to mend.
Together, we will face a challenging world with confidence and trust. Together, let us resolve that when
our
future leaders gather to discuss the history of this institution, it will be time to celebrate the rebirth
of joy, freedom, and progress for the Indian Nations.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs was born in 1824 in a time of war on Indian people. May it live in the year
2000 and beyond as an instrument of their prosperity.