    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1991, Book I)]
    [June 14, 1991]
    [Pages 662-663]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Statement Reaffirming the Government-to-Government Relationship Between
    the Federal Government and Indian Tribal Governments
    June 14, 1991

        On January 24, 1983, the Reagan-Bush administration issued a
    statement on Indian policy recognizing and reaffirming a government-to-
    government relationship between Indian tribes and the Federal
    Government. This relationship is the cornerstone of the Bush-Quayle
    administration's policy of fostering tribal self-government and self-
    determination.
        This government-to-government relationship is the result of
    sovereign and independent tribal governments being incorporated into the
    fabric of our nation, of Indian tribes becoming what our courts have
    come to refer to as quasi-sovereign domestic dependent nations. Over the
    years the relationship has flourished, grown, and evolved into a vibrant
    partnership in which over 500 tribal governments stand shoulder to
    shoulder with the other governmental units that form our Republic.
        This is now a relationship in which tribal governments may choose to
    assume the administration of numerous Federal programs pursuant to the
    1975 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act.
        This is a partnership in which an Office of Self-Governance has been
    established in the Department of the Interior and given the
    responsibility of working with tribes to craft creative ways of
    transferring decision-making powers over tribal government functions
    from the Department to tribal governments.
        An Office of American Indian Trust will be established in the
    Department of the Interior and given the responsibility of overseeing
    the trust responsibility of the Department and of insuring that no
    Departmental action will be taken that will adversely affect or destroy
    those physical assets that the Federal Government holds in trust for the
    tribes.
        I take pride in acknowledging and reaffirming the existence and
    durability of our unique government-to-government relationship.
        Within the White House I have designated a senior staff member, my
    Director of Intergovernmental Affairs, as my personal liaison
    with all Indian tribes. While it is not

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    possible for a President or his small staff to deal directly with the
    multiplicity of issues and problems presented by each of the 510 tribal
    entities in the Nation now recognized by and dealing with the Department
    of the Interior, the White House will continue to interact with Indian
    tribes on an intergovernmental basis.
        The concepts of forced termination and excessive dependency on the
    Federal Government must now be relegated, once and for all, to the
    history books. Today we move forward toward a permanent relationship of
    understanding and trust, a relationship in which the tribes of the
    Nation sit in positions of dependent sovereignty along with the other
    governments that compose the family that is America.