Indian Services Mission

Hankie P. Ortiz

Deputy Bureau Director
Office of Indian Services

Spike Bighorn

Associate Deputy Bureau Director
Office of Indian Services

To facilitate support for tribal people and tribal governments by promoting safe and quality living environments, strong communities, self sufficient and individual rights, while enhancing protection of the lives, prosperity and well being of American Indians and Alaska Natives.

The Office of Indian Services will support families and make communities safer for American Indian and Alaska Native people.

To meet the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ (BIA) mission of “enhancing the quality of life of American Indians and Alaska Natives”, the Office of Indian Services will improve the safety of BIA roads and bridges on Indian lands, and provide additional services to combat family and domestic violence in American Indian and Alaska Native communities.

The Office of Indian Services will honor tribal sovereignty by supporting Self-Determination while upholding the fiduciary responsibility.

To meet the BIA’s mission of maintaining government-to-government relationships with Indian tribes, within the spirit of Self-Determination, the Office of Indian Services offers training to improve the efficiency of awarding Indian Self Determination and Education Assistance Act (ISDEAA) funding, improve the monitoring of Individual Indian Monies (IIM) accounts to protect the account holder’s trust income and continue to meet the statutory requirement of annually identifying tribes that have been federally recognized to receive services from the Federal Government.

The Office of Indian Services is comprised of five divisions:

Division of Human Services

Guides national leadership on the following programs of Welfare Assistance, Child Protection and Family Violence Intervention in Indian Country, Indian Child Welfare Act, Supervised Individual Indian Money Accounts, and the Housing Improvement Program
Develops and implements regulations, policies and procedures related to social services and housing in Indian Country
Provides technical assistance (when requested or identified), consultation, and appropriate training Bureau-wide; leads national coordination and collaboration with other Federal agencies that provide human services funding and social services programs to Indian communities
Manages all human services-related financial assistance programs by providing direct payments to eligible individuals, including: general assistance, child assistance, emergency assistance, disaster and burial assistance

Division of Self-Determination Services

Guides national leadership on the following programs of a uniformed Self-Determination policy and standard procedures, contract support for ISDEAA agreements (contracts and compacts, both), and comprehensive training development
Provides guidance, technical support, and advisory services related to ISDEAA to BIA senior management, tribal officials, and other agency staff
Maintains the authorized database of current and eligible Awarding Officials
Manages the distribution of contract support-related funds, including: the contract support fund and the Indian Self-Determination fund

Division of Transportation

Guides national leadership on the following programs of Transportation infrastructure construction, Transportation infrastructure maintenance, and Tribal Tourism
Preserves the BIA’s transportation infrastructure, including: more than 30,000 miles of road, more than 700 bridge units, and 1 ferry
Oversees, manages, and monitors all activities related to improving BIA transportation systems within or providing access to Indian reservations, lands, villages and communities
Serves as the lead liaison to other Federal transportation agencies

Division of Tribal Government Services

Guides national leadership on the following programs of Tribal enrollment activities, including enrollment appeals, Tribal organic documents, Certificates of Degree of Indian Blood (CDIB), and Judgment funds
Provides technical assistance and resources to Tribal governments and Tribal organizations to support secretarial elections and the development and enhancement of tribal membership rolls
Leads the maintenance of the listing of federally-recognized tribal entities (567 tribes currently recognized)

Division of Workforce Development

Administers the Job Training and Placement Program within the BIA
Coordinates a wide variety of employment, training, education, childcare, welfare, economic development, job development and related programs on behalf of American Indians and Alaska Natives
Tribes can contract to administer these programs pursuant to the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act, Public Law 93-638, 25 U.S.C. section 450 et seq