Government Information Research Guide

This resource has been developed for use in implementing Indian Education for All, through a collaboration between Montana’s Office of Public Instruction and the University of Montana’s Regional Learning Project in the Center for Continuing Education.

Basic information on the Niitsitapi (Pikuni) also known as the Blackfeet Nation. Contains additional links to the tribal government and other resources.

Basic information on the Apsaalooke, also known as the Crow Nation and links to other resources.

Basic information on the Confederated Salish (Sélish) & Kootenai (Ktunaxa) Tribes.

Information on the Nakoda and A'aninin people who live at Fort Belknap.

Basic information on the Fort Peck Assiniboine (Nakoda) & Sioux Tribes (Dakota, Lakota).

Basic information on the Annishinabe and Métis, also known as the Little Shell Chippewa.

Basic information about the Tsetsêhesêstâhase/So’taahe or Northern Cheyenne Tribe , the reservation and tribal government.

Basic information on the Annishinabe Ne-i-yah-wahk or Chippewa Cree Tribe

Also available on : Level 1: I1.107

The United States Department of Agriculture's Council for Native American Farming and Ranching (CNAFR) was created to advise the Secretary on ways to eliminate barriers to participation for Native American Farmers and Ranchers in USDA programs. The Council was initially established as part of the Keepseagle settlement and is pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), as amended, 5 U.S.C. App. 2.

The Office of Tribal Relations (OTR) serves as a single point of contact for Tribal issues and works to ensure that relevant programs and policies are efficient, easy to understand, accessible, and developed in consultation with the American Indians and Alaska Native constituents they impact.

A diverse and multifaceted cultural and educational enterprise, the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) is an active and visible component of the Smithsonian Institution, the world's largest museum complex. The NMAI cares for one of the world's most expansive collections of Native artifacts, including objects, photographs, archives, and media covering the entire Western Hemisphere, from the Arctic Circle to Tierra del Fuego.

The Administration for Native Americans (ANA) promotes self-sufficiency for Native Americans by providing discretionary grant funding for community based projects, and training and technical assistance to eligible tribes and native organizations.

The Native Employment Works (NEW) program provides annual funding to 78 grantees for a variety of work-related activities to support job readiness, job placement, and job retention for Native Americans. NEW funding enables grantees to serve their designated service populations through these work activities and supportive services.

Prior to 1900, few Indians are included in the decennial federal census. Indians are not identified in the 1790-1840 censuses. In 1860, Indians living in the general population are identified for the first time. Nearly all of the 1890 census schedules were destroyed as a result of the fire at the Department of Commerce in 1921.

Beginning with the 1900 census, Indians are enumerated on reservations as well as in the general population.

The modern census of Native Americans

"a small non-profit organization dedicated to the survival of Native American languages, particularly through the use of Internet technology. Our website is not beautiful. Probably, it never will be. But this site has inner beauty, for it is, or will be, a compendium of online materials about more than 800 indigenous languages of the Western Hemisphere and the people that speak them."

ANA believes language revitalization and continuation are two of the first steps taken in preserving and strengthening a community’s culture. Use of native language builds identity and encourages communities to move toward social unity and self-sufficiency.

Division of Indian and Native American Programs (DINAP) Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Section 166 grantees and the Department of Labor share a vision of providing quality employment and training services to tribes, tribal organizations, Alaska Native entities, Indian controlled organizations and Native Hawaiian organizations serving unemployed and low income Native Americans, Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians.

The activities of the Office of Native American Business Development (ONABD) include the provision of direct services to American Indian and Alaska Natives, fostering of intergovernmental and industry collaboration, and promotion of economic and business development opportunities in Indian Country. Community outreach has been a critical component of the ONABD’s work resulting in valuable insight and identification of economic development challenges.

NA supports Native American communities by providing financial assistance and capacity building, gathering and sharing data, and advocating for improved policies within HHS and across the federal government.

The Indian Affairs offers an extensive scope of programs that covers the entire range of Federal, State and local government services, incoudes the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) social services, natural resources management on trust lands representing 55 million surface acres and 57 million acres of subsurface minerals estates, economic development programs, administration of tribal courts, implementation of land and water claim settlements, housing improvement, disaster relief, and other areas.

Among the billions of historical records housed at the National Archives throughout the country, researchers can find information relating to American Indians from as early as 1774 through the mid 1990s. The National Archives preserves and makes available the documents created by Federal agencies in the course of their daily business.

The Dawes Rolls, also known as the "Final Rolls", are the lists of individuals who were accepted as eligible for tribal membership in the "Five Civilized Tribes": Cherokees, Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws, and Seminoles. (It does not include those whose applications were stricken, rejected or judged as doubtful.) Those found eligible for the Final Rolls were entitled to an allotment of land, usually as a homestead.

The Indian Health Service (IHS), an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov, is responsible for providing federal health services to American Indians and Alaska Natives.

The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) was enacted on November 16, 1990, to address the rights of lineal descendants, Indian tribes, and Native Hawaiian organizations to Native American cultural items, including human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony.

The Schedule of Indian Land Cessions subtitle notes that it "indicates the number and location of each cession by or reservation for the Indian tribes from the organization of the Federal Government to and including 1894, together with descriptions of the tracts so ceded or reserved, the date of the treaty, law or executive order governing the same, the name of the tribe or tribes affected thereby, and historical data and references bearing thereon."

The National Museum of the American Indian honors American Indian Code Talkers. This is a companion website to the traveling Smithsonian Institution exhibition, Native Words, Native Warriors.

A digitized collection of the Indian Claims Commission Decisions from Oklahoma State University

Native America Calling is a live call-in program linking public radio stations, the Internet and listeners together in a thought-provoking national conversation about issues specific to Native communities.

The American Indian News Service is edited by Kara Briggs, a Yakama and Snohomish journalist. She owns Red Hummingbird Media Corp., which is contracted by the National Museum of the American Indian to provide this service.

National Native News (NNN) provides listeners with relevant, timely coverage on Native American and Indigenous communities. The program began in 1987 and is currently produced in Albuquerque, New Mexico.