Indian Programs In Trouble, Says Bia Director Congressional Welfare Reform Could Cut Federal Aid For Child Care, Job Training

In its drive to reform welfare, Congress is leaving the nation’s Indian tribes out in the cold, the head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs said Tuesday.

Congress “would devastate Indian programs” by replacing federal aid with state-run grants, said BIA director Ada Deer.

Funds for tribal welfare, child care, job training, schools, libraries, senior citizen programs and water systems could be lost, she said.

“This is going to have a dire impact on the lives of everyday Indian people,” said Deer, visiting Spokane for a conference on Indian issues.

Also, she said, a proposed $214 million cut in the BIA’s $1.9 million budget would hurt roads, schools and economic development on the nation’s reservations.

Republican welfare reform, part of the “Contract With America,” calls for replacing $60 billion in federal programs with so-called “block grants.”

The grants would go to states, which lawmakers say would run the programs more cheaply than distant federal bureaucracies.

But Deer and BIA Deputy Assistant Secretary Michael Anderson said the proposal amounts to a “termination” of the federal government’s treaty responsibilities. Some treaties even specified the number of teachers assigned to tribal children.

“When these treaties were signed, there was a lot of flowery language. ‘As long as the rivers will run,’ and that sort of thing,” Deer said. “That didn’t mean ‘At the whim of Congress.’ They (tribes) are not asking for special treatment. They’re asking Congress to honor its obligations.”

Historically, she said, tribes don’t fare well going to states for help.

“I don’t think Indians are on the radar screen,” she said.

As for Indian gaming, often touted as the ticket to tribal self-sufficiency, it isn’t raising much money for most tribes, said Anderson. About a fifth of the nation’s 500 tribes run gambling casinos, he said, and of those, only about 20 are making much money.

“Overall, most tribes are not doing that well,” Anderson said. “The myth that gaming’s going to take care of all the needs is wrong in many cases.”

Three weeks ago, the Northwest tribes approved a resolution calling for the Bureau to help them develop reservation gaming.

That’s not likely, Deer said.

For one thing, she said, budget cuts are likely to slice thin the Bureau’s economic development budget.

For another, some members of Congress don’t want a federal agency promoting gambling, even under the auspices of economic development.

“It’s schizophrenic and unfair,” Deer said, “But we can’t really enter into it much now.”

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