Indian Affairs (IA) may promulgate regulations, also known as "rulemaking," in order to carry out its mission to fulfill the United States' trust responsibility to Federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes and villages and individual Indian trust beneficiaries. Rulemaking almost always involves public input and often requires additional Tribal consultation. The regulations that guide IA's operations are documented in Title 25 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR): Indians. More information on IA's regulatory process as well as a link to IA's regulations in development can be found here: https://www.bia.gov/as-ia/raca/regulations

IA also develops policies/directives that document its internal operations and provide guidance to IA employees on how to perform their jobs effectively and in compliance with regulations and other requirements. Collectively, this is known as the "IA Directives System." These policies/directives are not applicable to the public, but are available to the public here: https://www.bia.gov/policy-forms

Occasionally, additional 'guidance' documents are created to further clarify for the public how regulations should be implemented. These documents may provide important background on applicable laws and policies, procedural information, and simplify standards and processes. Links to these important documents and additional resources are provided on this page. They have been organized according to the IA organization under which the document owner's office falls. If you are unable to locate a specific document on this page, using the search field at the top of this page should yield results, or you may contact the program office directly. 

Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs (AS-IA): 

Additional information and sample formats can be found here: https://www.bia.gov/as-ia/OFA/guidelines-precedent-manual-and-sample-narrativehttps://www.bia.gov/as-  ia/OFA/supplemental-administrative-and-regulatory-documents, and https://www.bia.gov/as-ia/OFA/sample-formats-petitioner-submissions

BIA/BIA Regions:

Additional information including Quick Reference Sheets can be found here: https://www.bia.gov/bia/ois/dhs/icwa

BIE:

In addition to the documents referenced above, several IA program offices have developed other sources of information that may be useful to Tribes/the public. Unlike 'guidance' documents, these additional resources do not clarify how regulations are to be implemented, but rather provide supplemental information to further IA's mission of enhancing the quality of life, promoting economic opportunity, and carrying out the responsibility to protect and improve the trust assets of American Indians, Indian Tribes, and Alaska Natives. Please refer to the applicable program office's webpage to find supplemental information created by that office. A list of program offices is available here: https://www.bia.gov/programs-services