Quotes about Bureau of Indian Affairs

Red Cloud

They made us many promises, more than I can remember, but they never kept but one; they promised to take our land, and they took it.

Peter MacDonald

The Navajo Nation spends most of its time jumping through hoops.

Referring to the administrative procedures required of the Navajos by the Bureau of Indian Affairs:

Royce C. Lamberth

I have never seen conduct of the Federal Government so egregious.

There had not been an audit in over 200 years, and many of the records are missing.

Kevin Grover

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.

Peter Farb

Millions of dollars have been expended to excavate and transport to museums the tools, weapons, and other artifacts of Indians--but scarcely a penny has been spent to save the living descendants of those who made them

Bruce Babbitt

May you prosper, grow, advocate and get under people’s skins.

Kevin Gover

There is great good will on Capitol Hill for the tribes but virtually none for the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Hoover Commission

The hostility to all Indian ways and culture that characterized so much of Government policy now appears to have been a mistake.

Dillon S. Myer

It will not always be possible to obtain Indian cooperation .... We must proceed even though [this] may be lacking.

United States Congress

It shall and may be lawful for the President to have the same superintendence and care over any tribe or nation in the country to which they may remove, as contemplated by this act, that he is now authorized to have over them at their present places of residence: Provided, That nothing in this act contained shall be construed as authorizing or directing the violation of any existing treaty between the United States and any of the Indian tribes.

This law allowed the President to forcibly move entire tribes from their native lands to sparsely settled land in the West. Oklahoma became knows as Indian Territory as so many Indians were relocated there. The act, and this clause in particular, gave the President the authority over all Indian tribes in the nation and established the difficult if not impossible relationship between the Indian nations and the Federal government. The act—the last sentence of the quote—also ratified all treaties with the Indians and pronounced them inviolate. That was not to be.

Laura Minnie Cornelius Kellogg

Our solidarity will be threatened by them just so long as you do not wake up and refuse to allow them to represent you.

Bureau of Indian Affairs Quotes