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Borgstrom Memorandum (OMB Policy on Indians)
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Borgstrom Memorandum (OMB Policy on Indians)
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The original documents are located in Box 1, folder "Borgstrom Memorandum (OMB
Policy on Indians)" of the Bradley H. Patterson Files at the
Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Copyright Notice
The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of
photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Gerald Ford donated to the United
States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.
Works prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public
domain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to
remain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject to a valid
copyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
HBorgstrom
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET
April 19, 1976
WASHINGTON. D.C. 2051:
DATE:
RJLY TO
ATTNOF: NR/Interior Branch
SUBJECT: Organization for Indian Affairs
Mr. Mitchell
Confidental
We believe that the selection of an appropriate structure
and composition for a focal point for the conduct of Fed-
eral Indian programs should follow rather than precede
the selection of a strategy for Federal Indian policy.
This paper will describe two alternative strategies and
the elements of a focal point which appear most appro-
priate to each. These two strategies are (1) Long-Range
Social Problem-Solving and (2) Incrementalism.
f Tast
Long-Range Social Problem-Solving
This strategy involves the prescription of some future end-
state or goal toward which Federal intervention is directed.
Generally, it entails the definition of a "gap" between an
extant set of conditions and a desired set of conditions,
a gap which is presumed to be susceptible to permanent
closure through the application of resources. Frequently,
it is assumed that the agency addressing this gap ought
to be "working itself out of a job. H
In Indian affairs, this gap is described in terms of the
current condition of many Indian people as (relatively)
ill-housed, uneducated, unhealthy, and un-or-under-employed.
It assumes that when these gaps are closed through Federal
programming, the Federal Government can get out of special
Indian programs. The perceived need is for the Federal
Government to be more efficient in closing this gap, hence
hastening the day when special Federal programs will no
longer be "needed".
This approach or strategy, which is the most familiar (and
comfortable) one for EXOP officials, has basically four
problems:
FORD i LIBRARY 03RALD
Digitized from Box 1 of the Bradley H. Patterson Files at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
2
(1) The gap is relative; the reference group typically
used, the average American family, is constantly
changing.
(2) "Working the Federally Government out of the Indian
business" is not consonent with the prevailing
Indian view of a perpetual special Federal Indian
relationship.
(3) As such; this approach is not consonent with self-
determination as is now being implemented. Self-
determination (local goal-setting, resource alloca-
tion, program design, and program :.anagement) will
only lead to the eventual cessation of special
Federal Indian programs as a very unintended effect
of the execution of the current policy.
(4) Most social interventionist policies assume that,
once properly prepared, clients will avail them-
selves fully of non-Federal opportunities created.
If people are trained, they will take available
jobs. If people are brought up to a health standard,
and are taught hygeine, they will keep themselves
healthy and avail themselves of other public and pri-
vate health resources. It is simply not obvious that
this is the case with the reservation Indian popu-
lation.
Problem (1) above is not unique to Indian programs, but the
other three problems warrant additional consideration.
First, Indians do not view their degree of relative disadvantage
as the basis for special Federal programs. Indian leaders,
with the possible exception of Alaskan Natives, would dis-
avow any connection with a Federal policy directed toward an
eventual end-state which did not include all of the following
features:
- Perpetual Federal trusteeship (including non-taxability)
for Indian resources.
- Perpetual Federal recognition of tribes as sovereign
governments.
FORD & LIBRAR QERALD
3
Perpetual entitlement to special Federal program bene-
fits on the basis of treaty agreements. (Note: at a
recent meeting on BIA scholarships, we were informed
that one tribe interpreted the treaty provision in the
1800's concerning education to mean free Indian educa-
tion to whatever level of education, including multiple
Ph D.'s an Indian wanted to attain. )
Perpetual Federal buffering of tribes from States
including special, direct Federal-tribal, set-asides
in all Federal intergovernmental programs.
The result of all this is that Federal Indian programs are
not needs-tested. Scholarships (over and above D/HEW pro-
grams) can go to children of GS-16's and people have been
known to go back to reservations for health care. This is
antithetical to the typical social-problem-solving_ approach
taken to most Federal programs, but some Indians see them-
selves as receiving services because they are Indians and
foresee no future set of conditions as supplying the rationale
for a phasing out of these programs.
Secondly, the self-determination policy is by no means as
ambiguous as it is frequently termed. That there is no
clear Federal end-state goal being pursued is a function
of the fact that this policy is process, not end-state in
orientation. Its main components are
- Maximizing local choice of programs consonent with
the constraints of
Finite availability of funds
Federal accountability for the use of
Commut
tax resources.
on
Federal accountability for the use and
this
protection of Indian resources.
GERALD LIBRARY R. FORD
4
- Improving the abilities of tribal governments to select
goals for themselves and apply resources in an efficient
manner toward the attainment of those goals.
- Improving the administration of those programs which,
by Federal or tribal choice, remain under the direct
management of the Federal Government.
- Removing the threat of eventual termination from the
decisionmaking environment of tribes.
It is this latter point which creates substantive as well as
procedural barriers to the social problem-solving strategy
alternative.
The point is that this "social engineering" strategy or model
would require a reversal of at least the trend in which the
current policy is leading if not actually a reversal of currently
codified specific policy decisions. More, not less, Federal
control over the uses of resources would be required, and
serious consideration would have to be given to the following
sub-strategies.
(1) Identifying réservations where the resource base
cannot support the projected population at an
income level commensurate with U.S. non-Indian
income.
(2) Either investing funds to develop industries on
those reservations or encouraging people to leave.
(3) Providing job training and education to an indi-
vidual according to the decision as to whether he
or she is to stay or leave.
(4) Develop a plan whereby special Federal programs
will cease on certain future dates when reserva-
tion economies achieve certain levels of self-
sufficiency.
(5) Putting individual needs-tests on all Federal
programs.
(6) Encouraging States to take over basic community
services which States supply to non-Indian
FORD & LIBRARY GERALD
communities, such as police, schools, public
health, and the like.
(7) Not recognizing (bring back into dependence) any
more tribes.
5
(8) Encouraging tribes to divide up assets among indi-
viduals so that persons who are ready to enter the
mainstream can cash in their assets and trade them
for new assets (education, houses, etc.)
(9) Redirecting on-reservation education systems to
acculturation to mainstream norms
(10) Encouraging the arts through establishing museums
and the like, so persons do not feel that their
culture is disappearing.
The fact is that these things have been tried and are per-
ceived to have failed. Each one of these, except for
encouragement of the arts, finds its converse in current
Federal policy. It would be pointless to enlist the àssis-
tance of Indian leaders -- if they in fact ascribe to the
views attributed to them on pages 2 and 3 above -- in the
pursuit of this strategy. Furthermore, it would also be
pointless to involve the Bureau of Indian Affairs and other
"Indian" agency leadership in this effort. What would be
required is the establishment of a permanent entity of
50-100 social science professionals, lawyers, and adminis-
trators to plan and impose these policies on the Indian
community and its current supporters.
Incrementalist Strategy
The fundamental assumption of this strategy is that things
will not go to hell in a handbasket even if no radical
policy shifts are made. In this instance, it would have
the following components:
FORD i LIBRARY 07683
(1) The recognition that the objects of social change
policy are not inert. Call it participation,
involvement, self-determination, or what have you,
the perceptions and motives of the Indian people
will be the major determinant of their futures.
(2) Perceptions and motives change and can be influenced
to change.
(3) We have not yet reached the point where the general
objectives of the Indian community in the manage-
ment of Federal resources differ substantially
Not five.
from the objectives of federally-managed programs:
Jecties
improved health, educational, and economic status.
The needs in these areas are still too great to
imary Indians X stickere their is
cause tribes to divert substantial resources from
these to other objectives.
F
there
basic
policy
what
evaluation
is
execution
If
it:
takes
policy
to
6
(4)
Policies should not and need not be uncorrectable.
In fact, correctability (evaluation) should be built
into them.
(5) Self-Determination per se is not an inadequate policy
framework unless it is too narrowly defined. If it
shells megbe; be but of tile effect
means not only community (tribal) choice but also
individual choice, there remains a major Federal role
in altering socio-economic conditions at the local
level.
edvious IT
(6) Precedents are useful but not obligatory.
policy Pop's cer previous
(7) Dichotomies (as opposed to continuums) are harmful.
It is not useful to say
A tribe is either sovereign or non-
existant.
A resource is in trust or notin trust.
A tribe is recognized or not recognized.
A program is tribally-controlled or
federally controlled.
(8) Future policies should meet future needs, not simply
institute actions in the future which should have been
but were not, taken in the past. Self-Determination,
taken this way, speaks to the future; it neither
denies nor affirms the efficacy of past policies in
the past.
Actions taken under this strategy are tentative, experi-
mental, and correctable. Promises are modest, delivery is
evaluated. The level of commitment is essentially rational
and conditional, not emotional or moral. Issues of
sovereignty and entitlement are viewed as reference points
insofar as they are perceived to be valid concepts by
some participants, but they are not viewed as "basic" or
unconditional principles.
GERALD FORD LIBRARY
OF THE INTERIOR
United States Department of the Interior
S.
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY
March
3,
1849
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20240
July 14, 1976
MEMORANDUM TO TED MARRS
Subject: President's Speech for July 18, 1976
Attached is an article that appeared in the Northwestern
Indian newspaper containing a memorandum that evidently
came from OMB setting forth a strategy for terminating
Federal involvement in Indian affairs. In light of this
article it may be important for the President and the
Secretary to emphasize that notwithstanding the private
views of a small minority of non-policy making persons,
there is no intent or policy to terminate or negatively
alter the special Federal relationship with Indian tribes.
Albhnis R. Dennis Ickes
labe
Under Secretary's Office
Enclosure
FORD LIBRARY j GERALD
AMERICAN REVOLUTION INDENTENNAL
1776-1976
TENNIAL THOUGHTS, page 7
BULK RATE
mallets
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
Pendleton, OR 97801
Permit No. 62
cuma
CAYUSE
UMATILLA
WALLAWALLA
PENDLETON, OR 97801 (503) 276-8221
JULY 1976
site
VOL. 1. NO. 7
Covert White House plan
sees tribal termination
BY RICHARD LA COURSE
the past and present, and finds
The aim of "incrementalism"
specific faults in the current
is to prompt the Indian pop-
A "confidential" plan from the
approach.
ulations to assimilate themselves
Ford White House Office of
into the "mainstream" of Amer-
Management and Budget (OMB)
The section option, labelled
ican society and gradually to
spells out in fine detail a careful
"incrementalism," spells out an
yield their distinct identities and
plan to reorganize the entire
approach which would force
protected land areas.
structure of federal-Indian aff.
tribal members to accept the
airs, and to "work the federal
liquidation of their common
The Borgstrom plan declares
government out of the Indian
trust and financial assets, de-
that specific political responses
business."
stroying the present status of
to this plan would inevitably
the reservation land base, and to
follow:
The six-page memorandum,
use such revenues for services
written by Interior Branch Bud-
they are presently receiving und-
get Official Harold Borgstrom of
er the existing federal structure.
(Continued on Page 3)
OMB, is entitled "Organization
for Indian Affairs." It was given
restricted White House circulat-
Jurisdiction
legislation
ion Apr. 16.
(The full text of the Borgstrom
WASHINGTON-The staff of
action is expected on the bill.
memorandum appears on Page
Sen. Mark Hatfield, R-Ore., has
5 of this issue.)
completed and sent for review
A new nationwide jurisdiction
a draft of a bill to return crim-
return bill, meanwhile, has been
The Borgstrom plan outlines
inal and civil jurisdiction to the
sent to both houses of Congress
two separate approaches to
Confederated Tribes of the Uma-
for preliminary review. It was
phasing out the federal govern-
tilla Reservation in his own
jointly authored by the Interior
ment in its relationships with
state.
and Justice Departments as
Indian tribes under the federal
substitute for S.2010, a bill
FORD i LIBRARY GERALD
trust relationship. One option,
Review of the draft bill by the
written by the National Cong.
mangside the present location
called "Long Range Social Prob-
Tribal Fish Committee and the
ress of American Indians. (See
winter village sacred burial
lem Solving," explores steps
Board of Trustees is expected to
text of Interior-Justice bill on
East
Oregonian)
taken to assist Indian tribes in
be completed by July 6. Early
Page 9.)
les tangle over fishing issues
nts, the unresolved issue
es of Warm Springs, Umatilla,
Oregon and Washington on
have sold whatever special com-
roll fishermen sailing off
Yakima and Nez Perce, who
June 14, however, filed a pet-
mercial fishing rights they pos-
lacific Coast moved the
under federal court order are
ition asking Belloni to "go back
sened. They also contend that
year bigh boil.
entitled to 50 percent of the
to the beginning" and decide
Indians have rights to catch flsh
total Columbia eatch.
again what actual Indian fishing
for and "ceremon-
Indian commercial fishery to provide the necessities of life." At the
reservation?
same time, said Lezak: "Our office expects the injunction of the
federal court to be obeyed."
11. What are the dates this year of the Pendleton Round-Up and
Happy Canyon?
Ignoring the Belloni order, commercial troll fishermen from Wash-
ington state were casting for salmon in coastal waters from June 17
12. Where is the tribal Summer Youth Camp being held?
and continued into early July. A show-cause hearing was set by
Belloni for July 1. Belloni turned aside the argument by the Wash-
12. Indian Lake.
LIBRARY
ington asst. attorney general that the state high court has declared
Harold Burton. 10. End of July or early August. 11. Sept. 15-18.
the Washington Dept. of Fisheries has no legal authority to order
"Tater" Parr. 9. William D. Bailey, William W. Lorentino and
FORD
the closuré. Belloni said Indian treaties represent the "supreme
6. December 1949. 7. Don Kaufman of Pendleton. 8. Isaac
law of the land" and a state cannot pass a law in conflict with a
een. 4. Umatilla, Ore. 5. Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission.
treaty How states respond to that declaration weeks soon will tell.
ANSWERS: 1. Jan. 1, 1881. 2. Linguist Bruce Rigsby. 3. Eight-
076839
White House
(Continued from Page 1)
RESERVATIONS
URBAN GROUPS
INDIAN STUDIES
-A team of between 50 and 100 "social
non-taxability, for Indian resources," "per-
CEREMONIALS
CONCRETE
science professionals, lawyers and admin-
petual federal recognition of tribes as sover-
istrators" would have to be formed "to
eign governments," "perpetual entitle-
MUSEUMS
SEPTIC TANKS
plan and impose these policies on the Ind-
ment to special federal program benefits
INTERTRIBAL GROUPS
ian community and its supporters";
on the basis of treaty agreements," and fin-
FEDERAL OFFICES
ally "perpetual federal buffering of tribes
INDIAN MEDIA
-Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) personnel
from states."
BUSINESSES
countrywide, some of whom support cur-
TRADITIONAL ARTS
rent wide policy objectives of Indians,
The ultimate objective of the Ford White
AND MUCH MORE
would have to be kept outside the process
House planning is an "end-state" in which
of unveiling the steps of this plan because
these fundamental presuppositions of Ind-
they might attempt to subvert its success;
ians have disappeared through "social on-
gineering."
-All Indian leaders and tribes would be
expected to oppose the overt shape of the
Differingly slightly from the Republican
READY MIX CONCRETE
plan, with the possible exception of the
Indian policies of the 1950s which resulted
SAND & GRAVEL
80,000 Alaska Natives in a state where there
in the liquidation of 63 tribes as legal entit-
has not been the experience of reserved land
ies, the Ford policy does not use the dis-
PRE-CAST ITEMS:
areas.
credited phrase "termination"; rather, it
employs the phrase "end-state," and depicts
SEPTIC TANKS
The Borgstrom memo uses incendiary
all the conditions subtly by which Indians
COMING IN SEPTEMBER-Compre
STEPPING STONES
phrases such as "social engineering" and
hensive listings of all aspects of res-
themselves can be persuaded to arrive at
ervation and urban Indian commun-
AND MUCH MORE
"social interventionism" to describe its
this state.
Itles in Oregon. $10.00 pre public-
projected methods with Indians on the
ation price. Write:
stated rule that "perceptions and motives
The response to the Borgstrom memorand-
DIRECTORY
change and can be influenced to change."
um will doubtless constitute a significant
Confederated Umatilla Journal
portion of political actions by national Ind-
P.O. Box 638
The memo also states: 'Working the fed-
ian organizations in the coming weeks, as
Pendleton, OR 97801
276-7151
eral government out of the Indian business'
the memo itself was given modest circulat-
Or call: (503) 276-8221
is not consonent [sic] with the prevailing
ion from the White House.
CENTRAL CEMENT
Indian view of a perpetual special federal
Indian relationship."
Regional Indian intertribal associations are
PRODUCTS INC.
also reported ready to respond strongly to
MISSION HY.
The memo describes the most fundamental
the Ford proposals, although the White
MAILING ADDRESS: P.O. BOX 726
and widespread gal anchors of tribes as
House will be very unlikely to issue them as
'perpetual federal trusteeship, including a
declaration
of
a
new
public
policy.
CONFEDERATED UMATILLA JOURNAL, Pendleton, Ore., July 1976
5
The Borgstrom memo
Furthermore, it would also be pointless to involve the
Bureau of Indian Affairs and other "Indian" agency
leadership in this effort. What would be required is the
establishment of a perment entity of 50-100 social
science professionals, lawyers, and administrators to
'Problem solving' and 'incrementalism'
plan and impose these policies on the Indian commun-
ity and its current supporters.
Incrementalist Strategy
NEW EFFORTS under the Ford White House in its mood of fiscal conservativeness
The fundamental assumption of this strategy is that
to lessen its involvement-and its expenditures-for Indian people in line with federal
things will not go to hell in a handbasket even if no
obligations are solidly behind this memorandum prepared within the White .House
radical policy shirts are made. In this instance, it would
Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The cost-reduction objectives and the legal
have the following components:
changes of view necessary to meet the Ford objectives are spelled out below in basic
strategies and sub-strategies. It's cumbersome but essential reading before November.
(1) The recognition that the objects of social change
are not inert. Call it participation, involvement, self-
determination, or what have you, the perceptions and
THE WHITE HOUSE
-Perpetual federal buffering of tribes from states in-
motives of the Indian people will be the major determ-
Executive Office of the President
cluding special, direct federal-tribal, set-asides in all
inant of their futures:
Office of Management and Budget
federal intergovernmental programs.
Washington, D.C.
(2) Perceptions and motives change and can be in-
The result of all this is that federal Indian programs are
fluenced to change;
DATE: April 19, 1976
not needs-tested. Scholarships (over and above D/HEW
TO: Mr. Mitchell
programs) can go to children of GS-16's and people
(3) We have not yet reached the point where the gen-
FROM: Harold Borgstrom
CONFIDENTIAL
have been known to go back to reservations for health
eral objectives of the Indian community in the manage-
SUBJECT: Organization for Indian Affairs
care. This is antithetical to the typical social-problem-
ment of federal resources differ substantially from the
solving approach taken to most federal programs, but
objectives of federally-managed programs: improved
We believe that the selection of an appropriate structure
some Indians see themselves as receiving services because
health, educational, and economic status. The needs
and composition for a focal point for the conduct of
they are Indians and foresee no future set of conditions
in these areas are still too great to cause tribes to divert
federal Indian programs should follow rather than pre-
as supplying the rationale for a phasing out of these
substantial resources from these to other objectives:
code the selection of a strategy for federal Indian pol-
programs.
jey. This paper will describe two alternative strategies
(4) Policies should not and need not be uncorrectable.
and the elements of a focal point which appear most
Secondly, the self-determination policy is by no means
In fact, correctability (evaluation) should be built into
appropriate to each. These two strategies are (1) Long-
as ambiguous as it is frequently termed. That there is
them;
Range Social Problem Solving and (2) Incrementalism.
no clear federal end-state goal being pursued is a funct-
ion of the fact that this policy is progress, not end-state
(5) Self-determination per se is not an inadequate
Long-Range Social Problem Solving
in orientation. Its main components are:
policy framework unless it is too narrowly defined. If
it means not only community (tribal) choice but also in-
This strategy involves the prescription of some future
-Maximizing local choice of programs consonent [sic]
dividual choice, there remains a major federal role in
and state or goal toward which federal intervention is
with the constraints of: finite availability of funds;
altering socio-economic conditions at the local level:
directed. Generally, it entails the definition of a "gap"
federal accountability for the use of tax resources;
between an extent [ste] set of conditions and a desired
federal accountability for the use and protection of
(6) Precedents are useful but not obligatory;
set of conditions, a gap which is presumed to be suscept-
Indian resources;
ible to permanent closure through the application of
(7) Dichotomies (as opposed to continuums) are harm-
resources. Frequently it is assumed that the agency
-Improving the abilities of tribal governments to select
ful. It is not useful to say: A tribe is either sovereign
addressing this gap ought to be working itself out of a
goals for themselves and apply resources in an efficient
or non-existant [sic]; A resource is in trust or not in
job.
manner toward the attainment of those goals;
trust; A tribe is recognized or not recognized; A program
is tribally controlled or federally controlled:
In Indian affairs, this gap is described in terms of the
--Improving the administration of those programs which,
current condition of many Indian people as (relatively)
by federal or tribal choice, remain under the direct
(8) Future policies should meet future needs, not
ill-boand, uneducated, unhealthy, and un-or-under
management of the federal government;
simply institute actions in the future which should have
employed It assumes that when these gaps are closed
been, but were not, taken in the past. Self-determin-
through Inderal programming, the federal government
-Removing the threat of eventual termination from the
ation, taken this way, speaks to the future: it neither
can out of special Indian programs. The perceived
decision-making environment of tribes.
denies nor affirms the efficacy of past policies in the
nind for the federal government to be more efficient
past.
condition of many Indian people as (relauvely
by federal or total choice, remain under
ill-bound, uneducated, unhealthy, and un-or-under
management of the federal government:
simply institute actions in the future which
Emplo, ed. It assumes that when these gaps are closed
been, but were not, taken in the past. Self-Hotermin-
through federal programming, the federal government
-Removing the threat of eventual termination from the
ation, taken this way, speaks to the future: it nuther
can get out of special Indian programs. The perceived
decision-making environment of tribes.
denies nor affirms the efficacy of past policies in the
need is for the federal government to be more efficient
past.
in closing this gap, hence hastening the day when special
It is this latter point which creates substantive as well
federal programs will no longer be "needed."
as procedural barriers to the social problem-solving
Actions taken under this strategy are tentative. experi-
strategy alternative.
mental, and correctable. Promises are modest, delivery
This approach or strategy, which is the most familiar
is evaluated. The level of commitment is essentially rat-
(and comfortable) one for Executive Office of the Pres-
The point is that this "social engineering" strategy or
ional and conditional, not emotional or moral. Issues of
ident] officials has basically four problems.
model would require a reversal of at least the trend in
sovereignty and entitlement are viewed as reference
which the current policy is leading, if not actually a
points insofar as they are perceived to be valid concepts
(1) The gap is relative: the reference group typically
reversal of currently codified specific policy decisions.
by some participanis, but they are not viewed as "basie"
used, the average American family, is constantly chang-
More, not less, federal control over the uses of resources
or unconditional principles.
ing.
would be required, and serious consideration would have
to be given to the following sub-strategies:
(2) "Working the federally [sic] government out of
the Indian business" is not consonent [sic] with the pre-
(1) Identifying reservation where the resource base
valling Indian view of a perpetual special federal Indian
cannot support the projected population at an income
Reburial
relationship.
level commensurate with U.S. non-Indian income;
TORD
(Continued from Page 2)
R.
LIBRARY
(3) As such, this approach is not consonent [sic] with
(2) Either investing funds to develop industries on
self-determination as is now being implemented. Self-
those reservations or encouraging people to leave;
determination (local goal-setting, resource allocation,
Dr. Rice told both Pond and this newspaper in a
program design, and program management) will only
(3) Providing job training and education to an individ-
sequent interview that "there is no rush" in reburying
lead to the eventual cessation of special federal Indian
ual according to the decision as to whether he or she is
the ancestral remains. An early July date, he said, was
programs as a very unintended effect of the execution of
to stay or leave;
set only for storage reasons, and that he would like to
see the reburial occur "some time in the fall" when
the current policy.
(4) Develop a plan whereby special federal programs
most people will have more time.
(4) Most social interventionist policies assume that,
will cease on certain future dates when reservation econ-
once properly prepared, clients will avail themselves
omies achieve certain levels of self-sufficiency;
Rice said he felt the project is "something too import-
fully of non-federal opportunities created. If people
ant to rush into." Rice reinterated that a burial monu-
are trained, they will take available jobs. If people are
(5) Putting individual needs-tests on all federal pio-
ment was already available and only needed an inscript-
grought up to a health standard and are taught hygiene,
ion engraved upon it. (The General Council decided
grams;
they will keep themselves healthy and avail themselves
to leave the wording of the inscription up to the Washut
of other public and private health resources. It is simply
(6) Encouraging states to take over basic community
Drummers who will participate in the reburial cerem-
not obvious that this is the case with the reservation
services which states supply to non-Indian communities
onies.)
population.
such as police, schools, public health, and the like;
The day that all this will take place has already been
Problem (1) above is not unique to Indian programs,
(7) Not recognizing (bring back into dependence) any
declared a Tribal Memorial Day by the General Coun-
but the other three problems warrant additional con-
more tribes;
cil. After the reburial ceremonies will follow a memor-
sideration. First, Indians do not view their degree of
ial dinner-the same as when any tribal member passes
relative disadvantage as the basis for special federal pro-
(8) Encouraging tribes to divide up assets among in-
away.
grams. Indian leaders, with the possible exception of
dividuals so that persons who are ready to enter the
Alaskan Natives, would disavow any connection with a
mainst. can cash in their assets and trade them for
-What should become of the catalogs, photographs and
federal policy directed toward an eventual end-state
new assets (education, houses, etc.);
research papers done during the excavation of the old
which did not include the following features:
Umatilla townsite where the 1,500-year-old graves
(9) Redirecting on-reservation education systems to
were unearthed alongside the Columbia River?
-Perpetual federal trusteeship (including non-taxability)
acculturation to mainstream norms;
for Indian resources;
The General Council asked Pond if he would request
(10) Encouraging the arts through establishing mus-
a copy of "any and all materials and information ac-
-Perpetual federal recognition of tribes as sovereign
eums and the like, so persons do not feel that their
quired" and that the tribe have a copyright to all in-
governments;
culture is disappearing.
formation received.
-Perpetual entitlement to special federal program bene-
The fact is that these things have been tried and are
-What other actions are being taken on other ancestral
fits on the basis of treaty agreements. (Note: at a rec-
perceived to have failed. Each one of these, except for
reburials here in the Northwest? The Yakimas recently
ent meeting on BIA scholarships, we were informed
encouragement of the arts, finds its converse in current
chose to bury all fragmented artifacts at a recent West
that one tribe interpreted the treaty provision in the
federal policy. It would be pointless to enlist the
Richland reburial,, according to Pond's conversation
1800's concerning education to mean free Indian educat-
assistance of Indian leaders-if they in fact ascribe to
with Dr. Rice and decided to keep all the displayable
ion to whatever level of education, including multiple
the views attributed to them above-in the pursuit
artifacts for their soon-to-be-built dultural heritage
PhD's an Indian wanted to attain);
of this strategy.
complex.
HBorgstrom
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET
April 19, 1976
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20503
DATE:
REPLY TO
ATTN
OF: NR/Interior Branch
SUBJECT: Organization for Indian Affairs
Mr. Mitchell
We believe that the selection of an appropriate structure
and composition for a focal point for the conduct of Fed-
eral Indian programs should follow rather than precede
the selection of a strategy for Federal Indian policy.
This paper will describe two alternative strategies and
the elements of a focal point which appear most appro-
priate to each. These two strategies are (1) Long-Range
Social Problem-Solving and (2) Incrementalism.
Long-Range Social Problem-Solving
This strategy involves the prescription of some future end-
state or goal toward which Federal intervention is directed.
Generally, it entails the definition of a "gap" between an
extant set of conditions and a desired set of conditions,
a gap which is presumed to be susceptible to permanent
closure through the application of resources. Frequently,
it is assumed that the agency addressing this gap ought
to be "working itself out of a job.' "
In Indian affairs, this gap is described in terms of the
current conditio n of many Indian people as (relatively)
ill-housed, uneducated, unhealthy, and un-or-under-employed.
It assumes that when these gaps are closed through Federal
programming, the Federal Government can get out of special
Indian programs. The perceived need is for the Federal
Government to be more efficient in closing this gap, hence
hastening the day when special Federal programs will no
longer be "needed". .
This approach or strategy, which is the most familiar (and
comfortable) one for EXOP officials, has basically four
problems:
R.
GENER
FORD
2
(1) The gap is relative; the reference group typically
used, the average American family, is constantly
changing.
(2) "Working the Federally Government out of the Indian
business" is not consonent with the prevailing
Indian view of a perpetual special Federal Indian
relationship.
(3) As such, this approach is not consonent with self-
determination as is now being implemented. Self-
determination (local goal-setting, resource alloca-
tion, program design, and program management) will
only lead to the eventual cessation of special
Federal Indian programs as a very unintended effect
of the execution of the current policy.
(4) Most social interventionist policies assume that,
once properly prepared, clients will avail them-
selves fully of non-Federal opportunities created.
If people are trained, they will take available
jobs. If people are brought up to a health standard
and are taught hygeine, they will keep themselves
healthy and avail themselves of other public and pri-
vate health resources. It is simply not obvious that
this is the case with the reservation Indian popu-
lation.
Problem (1) above is not unique to Indian programs, but the
other three problems warrant additional consideration.
First, Indians do not view their degree of relative disadvantage
as the basis for special Federal programs. Indian leaders,
with the possible exception of Alaskan Natives, would dis-
avow any connection with a Federal policy directed toward an
eventual end-state which did not include all of the following
features:
- Perpetual Federal trusteeship (including non-taxability)
for Indian resources.
- Perpetual Federal recognition of tribes as sovereign
governments.
R.
FORD
GERALD
3
- Perpetual entitlement to special Federal program bene-
fits on the basis of treaty agreements. (Note: at a
recent meeting on BIA scholarships, we were informed
that one tribe interpreted the treaty provision in the
1800's concerning education to mean free Indian educa-
tion to whatever level of education, including multiple
Ph D.'s an Indian wanted to attain.)
- Perpetual Federal buffering of tribes from States
including special, direct Federal-tribal, set-asides
in all Federal intergovernmental programs.
The result of all this is that Federal Indian programs are
not needs-tested. Scholarships (over and above D/HEW pro-
grams) can go to children of GS-16's and people have been
known to go back to reservations for health care. This is
antithetical to the typical social-problem-solving approach
taken to most Federal programs, but some Indians see them-
selves as receiving services because they are Indians and
foresee no future set of conditio ns as supplying the rationale
for a phasing out of these programs.
Secondly, the self-determination policy is by no means as
ambiguous as it is frequently termed. That there is no
clear Federal end-state goal being pursued is a function
of the fact that this policy is process, not end-state in
orientation. Its main components are
- Maximizing local choice of programs consonent with
the constraints of
Finite availability of funds
Federal accountability for the use of
tax resources.
Federal accountability for the use and
protection of Indian resources.
GERALD R. FORD
4
- Improving the abilities of tribal governments to select
goals for themselves and apply resources in an efficient
manner toward the attainment of those goals.
- Improving the administration of those programs which,
by Federal or tribal choice, remain under the direct
management of the Federal Government.
- Removing the threat of eventual termination from the
decisionmaking environment of tribes.
It is this latter point which creates substantive as well as
procedural barriers to the social problem-solving strategy
alternative.
The point is that this "social engineering" strategy or model
would require a reversal of at least the trend in which the
current policy is leading if not actually a reversal of currently
codified specific policy decisions. More, not less, Federal
control over the uses of resources would be required, and
serious consideration would have to be given to the following
sub-strategies.
(1) Identifying reservations where the resource base
cannot support the projected population at an
income level commensurate with U.S. non-Indian
income.
(2) Either investing funds to develop industries on
those reservations or encouraging people to leave.
(3) Providing job training and education to an indi-
vidual according to the decision as to whether he
or she is to stay or leave.
(4) Develop a plan whereby special Federal programs
will cease on certain future dates when reserva-
tion economies achieve certain levels of self-
sufficiency.
(5) Putting individual needs-tests on all Federal
programs.
&
FORD
(6)
Encouraging States to take over basic community
services which States supply to non-Indian
communities, such as police, schools, public
GERALD
LIBRARY
health, and the like.
(7) Not recognizing (bring back into dependence) any
more tribes.
5
(8) Encouraging tribes to divide up assets among indi-
viduals so that persons who are ready to enter the
mainstream can cash in their assets and trade them
for new assets (education, houses, etc.).
(9) Redirecting on-reservation education systems to
acculturation to mainstream norms.
(10) Encouraging the arts through establishing museums
and the like, SO persons do not feel that their
culture is disappearing.
The fact is that these things have been tried and are per-
ceived to have failed. Each one of these, except for
encouragement of the arts, finds its converse in current
Federal policy. It would be pointless to enlist the assis-
tance of Indian leaders -- if they in fact ascribe to the
views attributed to them on pages 2 and 3 above -- in the
pursuit of this strategy. Furthermore, it would also be
pointless to involve the Bureau of Indian Affairs and other
"Indian" agency leadership in this effort. What would be
required is the establishment of a permanent entity of
50-100 social science professionals, lawyers, and adminis-
trators to plan and impose these policies on the Indian
community and its current supporters.
Incrementalist Strategy
The fundamental assumption of this strategy is that things
will not go to hell in a handbasket even if no radical
policy shifts are made. In this instance, it would have
the following components:
(1) The recognition that the objects of social change
policy are not inert. Call it participation,
involvement, self-determination, or what have you,
the perceptions and motives of the Indian people
will be the major determinant of their futures.
(2) Perceptions and motives change and can be influenced
to change.
(3) We have not yet reached the point where the general
objectives of the Indian community in the manage-
ment of Federal resources differ substantially
from the objectives of federally-managed programs:
improved health, educational, and economic status.
The needs in these areas are still too great to
cause tribes to divert substantial resources from
these to other objectives.
6
(4) Policies should not and need not be uncorrectable.
In fact, correctability (evaluation) should be built
into them.
(5) Self-Determination per se is not an inadequate policy
framework unless it is too narrowly defined. If it
means not only community (tribal) choice but also
individual choice, there remains a major Federal role
in altering socio-economic conditions at the local
level.
(6) Precedents are useful but not obligatory.
(7) Dichotomies (as opposed to continuums) are harmful.
It is not useful to say
A tribe is either sovereign or non-
existant.
A resource is in trust or notin trust.
A tribe is recognized or not recognized.
A program is tribally-controlled or
federally controlled.
(8) Future policies should meet future needs, not simply
institute actions in the future which should have been
but were not, taken in the past. Self-Determination,
taken this way, speaks to the future; it neither
denies nor affirms the efficacy of past policies in
the past.
Actions taken under this strategy are tentative, experi-
mental, and correctable. Promises are modest, delivery is
evaluated. The level of commitment is essentially rational
and conditional, not emotional or moral. Issues of
sovereignty and entitlement are viewed as reference points
insofar as they are perceived to be valid concepts by
some participants, but they are not viewed as "basic" or
unconditional principles.
GERALD R. FORD LIBRARY
O'NEILL, Paul
Suspense
August 3, 1976
MEMORANDUM FOR:
PAUL O'NEILL
FROM:
MILT MITLER
Paul, can someone in OMB prepare an answer to the
attached from Jake L. Whitecrow which references an
OMB Memorandum concerning "Organization for Indian
Affairs".
Thanks for your help.
MEM/cj
2cc: Sandy Drake
FORD is LIBRARY CERALD
Attachment (Letter from Jake L. Whitecrow)
JÂMES ABOUREZK, D-S. DAK., CHAIRMAN
MEEDS, D-WASH., VICE CHAIRMAN
LEE METCAY D-MONT.
MARK O. HATFIELD. R-OREG.
SIDNE YATES, D-ILL.
SAM STEIGER. R-ARIZ.
AMERICAN INDIAN POLICY REVIEW COMMISSION
INDIAN MEMBERS:
ADA DEER, MENOMINEE, WIS.
CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES
JAKE WHITECROW, QUAPAW, SENECA-CAYUGA, OKLA.
HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING ANNEX No. 2
JOHN BORBRIDGE, JR., TLINGIT, ALASKA
LOUIS R. BRUCE, MOHAWK-SIOUX, NEW YORK
2D AND D STREETS, SW.
ADOLPH DIAL, LUMBEE, N.C.
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20515
ERNEST L. STEVENS, ONEIDA, WIS., DIRECTOR
PHONE: 202-225-1284
KIRKE KICKINGBIRD, KIOWA, OKLA., GENERAL COUNSEL
MAX 1. RICHTMAN, PROFESSIONAL STAFF MEMBER
July 22, 1976
President Gerald R. Ford
United States of America
The White House
Washington, D.C.
RH
Dear Mr. President:
I am enclosing a copy of what is called the "Borgstrom
Memorandum" which was initiated in the Office of Management
and Budget.
This memorandum disturbs me inasmuch as I am currently
serving on the American Indian Policy Review Commission.
This Congressional Commission, as you know, is reviewing
and investigating the past and present relationships that
the Federal Government has had with the various Indian Tribes
in these United States. We shall be completing our work in
a few months and will be making our reports to the Congress,
hopefully in January 1977.
We are not sure, at this time, what our recommendations
will be. However, when I hear you make those excellent and
well accepted statements such as you made to those of us in
attendance at the White House on Friday, July 16, 1976, and
then view a memorandum from one of your offices such as the
one attached, it does make me apprehensive about where we
are going in the field of Indian affairs.
I have been involved actively in Indian affairs since
1953 and have viewed the many policies and their results.
I must say that right now I feel the constant change of
strategies is still with us. I am certain that you do not
condone either of the two strategies as exemplified in the
attached memorandum. I would, however, appreciate your
|response in order that I may assist in bringing the truth
to our Indian citizens.
&
FORD
GERALD
LIBRARY
President Gerald R. Ford
Page 2
July 22, 1976
I have disseminated this memo in our locality of Eastern
Oklahoma. Therefore, I feel certain that you will be receiving
numerous letters regarding it.
Thanking you for your attention to this matter, I remain
Respectfully,
Jake Commissioner L Whitecren L. Whitecrow
American Indian Policy
Review Commission
P.O. Box 1308
Miami, OK 74354
JLW/ca
cc: Senator James Abourezk
Senator Mark Hatfield
Senator Lee Metcalf
Congressman Lloyd Meeds
Congressman Sam R. Steiger
Congressman Sidney Yates
Commissioner John Borbridge, Jr.
Commissioner Ada Deere
Commissioner Louis Bruce
Commissioner Adolph Dial
Mr. Ernie Stevens, Director, AIPRC
Mr. Kirk Kickingbird, General Counsel, AIPRC
The New Special Assistant to the President for Indian Affairs
FORD & LIBRARY 038870
Hborgstrom
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE FRESIDENT
OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND DUDG
April 19, 1976
WASHINGTON. D.C. 2:
NR/Interior Branch
Organization for Indian Affairs
Mr. Mitchell
We believe that the selection of an appropriate structure
and composition for a focal point for the conduct of Fed-
eral Indian programs should follow rather than precede
the selection of a strategy for Federal Indian policy.
This paper will describe two alternative strategies and
the elements of a focal point which appear most appro-
priate to each. These two strategies are (1) Long-Range
Social Prcblem-Solving and (2) Incrementalism.
Long-Range Social Problem-Solving
This strategy involves the prescription of some future end-
state or goal toward which Federal intervention is directed.
Generally, it entails the definition of a "gap" between an
extant set of conditions and a desired set of conditions,
a gap which is presumed to be susceptible to permanent
closure through the application of resources. Frequently,
it is assumed that the agency addressing this gap oucht
to be "working itself out of a job.
In Indian affairs, this gap is described in terms of the
current conditio n of many Indian people as (relatively)
ill-housed, uneducated, unhealthy, and un-or-under-employed.
It assumes that when these gaps are closed through Federal
programming, the Federal Government can get out of special
Indian programs. The perceived need is for the Federal
Government to be more efficient in closing this gap, hence
hastening the day when special Federal programs will no
longer be "needed".
This approach or strategy, which is the most familiar (and
comfortable) one for EXOP officials, has basically four
problems:
FORD & G7YN36 LIBRARY
(1) The gap is relative; the reference group typically used, the
average American family, is constantly changing.
(2) "Working the Federally Government out of the Indian business"
is not consonent with the prevailing Indian view of a perpetual
special Federal Indian relationship.
(3) As such; this approach is not consonent with self-determination
as is now being implemented. Self-determination (local goal-
setting, resource allocation, program design, and program manage-
ment) will only lead to the eventual cessation of special Federal
Indian programs as a very unintended effect of the execution of
the current policy.
(4) Most social interventionist policies assume that, once properly
prepared, clients will avail themselves fully of non-Federal
opportunities created. If people are trained, they will take
available jobs. If people are brought up to a health standard
and are taught hygeine, they will keep themselves healthy and
avail themselves of other public and private health resources.
It is simply not obvious that this is the case with the reservati
Indian population.
Problem (1) above is not unique to Indian programs, but the other three
problems warrant additional consideration. First, Indians do not view
their degree of relative disadvantage as the basis for special Federal
programs. Indian leaders, with the possible exception of Alaskan
Natives, would disavow any connection with a Federal policy directed
toward an eventual end-sate which did not include all of the following
features.
= Perpetual Federal trusteeship (including non-taxability) for
Indian resources.
- Perpetual Federal recognition of tribes as sovereign governments.
FORD & LIBRARY
3
-
Perpetual entitlement to special Federal program benefits on
the basis of treaty agreements. (Note: at a recent meeting
on BIA scholarships, we were informed that one tribe interpreted
the treaty provision in the 1800's concerning education to mean
free Indian education to whatever level of education, including
multiple Ph D. 's an Indian wanted to attain.)
- Perpetual Federal buffering of tribes from States including
special, direct Federal-tribal, set-asides in all Federal inter-
governmental programs.
The result of all this is that Federal Indian programs are not needs-
tested. Scholarships (over and above D/HEW programs) can go to children
of GS-16's and people have been known to go back to reservations for
health care. This is antithetical to the typical social-problem-solving
approach taken to most Federal programs, but some Indians see themselves
as receiving services because they are Indians and foresee no future
set of conditions as supplying the rationale for a phasing out of these
programs.
Secondly, the self-determination policy is by no means as ambiguous
as it is frequently termed. That there is no clear Federal end-state
goal being pursued is a function of the fact that this policy is
process, not end-state in orientation. Its main components are
- Maximizing local choice of programs consonent with the
constraints of
Finite availability of funds.
Federal accountability for the use of tax resources.
Federal accountability for the use and protection
of Indian resources.
FORD is LIBRARY GRAVID
- Improving the abilities of tribal governments to select goals
for themselves and apply resources in an efficient manner toward
the attainment of those goals.
- Improving the administration of those programs which, by Federal
or tribal choice, remain under the direct management of the
Federal Government.
- Removing the threat of eventual termination from the decision
making environment of tribes.
It is this latter point which creates substantive as well as procedural
barriers to the social problem-solving strategy alternative.
The point is that this "social engineering" strategy or model would
require a reversal of at least the trend in which the current policy
is leading if not actually a reversal of currently codified specific
policy decisions. More, not less, Federal control over the uses of
resources would be required, and serious consideration would have to
be given to the following sub-strategies.
(1) Identifying reservations where the resource base cannot support
the projected population at an income level commensurate with
U.S. non-Indian income.
(2) Either investing funds to develop industries on those reservation
or encouraging people to leave.
(3) Providing job training and education to an individual according
to the decision as to whether he or she is to stay or leave.
(4) Develop a plan whereby special Federal programs will cease on
certain future dates when reservation economics achieve certain
levels of self-sufficiency.
(5) Putting individual needs-tests on all Federal programs.
(6) Encouraging States to take over basic community services which
States supply to non-Indian communities, such as police, schools,
public health, and the like.
(7) Not recognizing (bring back into dependence) any more tribes.
FORD & LIBRARY GIRALD
'''
(8) Encouraging tribes to divide up assets among individuals so that
persons who are ready to enter the mainstream can cash in their
assets and trade them for new assets (education, houses, etc.).
(9) Redirecting on-reservation education systems to acculturation
to mainstream norms.
(10) Encouraging the arts through establishing museums and the like,
so persons do not feel that their culture is disappearing.
The fact is that these things have been tried and are perceived to have
failed. Each one of these, except for encouragement of the arts, finds
its converse in current Federal policy. It would be pointless to enlist
the assistance of Indian leaders -- if they in fact ascribe to the
views attributed to them on pages 2 and 3 above -- in the pursuit of
this strategy. Furthermore, it would also be pointless to involve the
Bureau of Indian Affairs and other "Indian" agency leadership in this
effort. What would be required is the establishment of a permanent
entity of 50-100 social science professionals, lawyers, and administrato:
to plan and impose these policies on the Indian community and its curren
supporters.
Incrementalist Strategy
The fundamental assumption of this strategy is that things will not go t.
hell in a handbasket even if no radical policy shifts are made. In this
instance, it would have the following components:
(1) The recognition that the objects of social change policy are not
inert. Call it participation, involvement, self-determination.
or what have you, the perceptions and motives of the Indian people
will be the major determinant of their futures.
(2) Perceptions and motives change and can be influenced to change.
(3) We have not yet reached the point where the general objectives
of the Indian community in the management of Federal resources
differ substantially from the objectives of federally-managed
programs: improved health, educational, and economic status.
The needs in these areas are still too great to cause tribes
to divert substantial resources from these to other objectives.
FORD is LIBRARY GERALD
6
(4) Policies should not and need not be uncorrectable. In fact,
correctability (evaluation) should be built into them.
(5) Self-Determination per se is not an inadequate policy framework
unless it is too narrowly defined. If it means not only communit
(tribal) choice but also individual choice, there remains a major
Federal role in altering socio-economic conditions at the local
level.
(6) Precedents are useful but not obligatory.
(7) Dichotomies (as opposed to continuums) are harmful. It is not
useful to say
A tribe is either sovereign or non-existant.
A resource is in trust or not in trust.
A tribe is recognized or not recognized.
A program is tribally controlled or federally controlled.
(8) Future policies should meet future needs, not simply institute
actions in the future which should have been but were not, taken
in the past. Self-Determination, taken this way, speaks to the
future; it neither denies nor affirms the efficacy of past
policies in the past.
Actions taken under this strategy are tentative, experimental, and
correctable. Promises are modest, delivery is evaluated. The level
of commitment is essentially rational and conditional, not emotional
or moral. Issues of sovereignty and entitlement are viewed as reference
points insofar as they are perceived to be valid concepts by some
participants, but they are not viewed as "basic" or unconditional
principles.
FORD is LIBRARY DERALD