[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

[[Page 663]]

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.