The Revolutionary Impact of the Economic Opportunity Act for American Indians and Alaska Natives

Administration for Native Americans Deputy Commissioner Kim Romine welcomes Tom Vigil, the very first ANA Deputy Commissioner.By Lillian Sparks Robinson, Commissioner, Administration for Native Americans

Now more than ever before American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes are empowered to be self-determining government entities that can make decisions and provide services for their own people. Through direct administration of programs like Head Start, Tribes are able to shape the education of future generations, by creating curriculum and programming that is reflective of their language and cultures. Through programs like Tribal Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) or Low Income Heating and Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) they are able to take care of the basic needs of their families in need. By administering family violence prevention services, child support or child welfare programs, they are further able to care for some of the most vulnerable children and families in their communities, and provide a safety net that all governments should be able to offer.

This is not to say that this transformation is complete, as the reach of self-determination is constrained both in law and in dollars, however, there have been great strides by Tribes and the U.S. government since the first direct funds went from the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) to Tribes in the early 1960s. Giving federal dollars, along with control and accountability was unheard of at the time. Previously social service programs were operated directly by the federal government, usually though the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The system was very top down, bureaucratic and paternalistic, echoing Chief Justice John Marshall’s idea that Indian Tribes were like a “ward” and the United States its “guardian.”  Direct funding, with tribal control of who is hired, how money is spent, and the way services will be provided was in direct opposition to the previous model and everyone expected it to fail.

The U.S. Congress funded a study  (PDF) of six of the reservations that received the first OEO grants, and found that while there were issues, there were a lot of positives, and Tribes especially were extremely supportive. By the time political winds changed in the early 1970s Tribes were unwilling to go back to the status quo when there was political pressure to disband the OEO. The Native American Programs Act of 1974 established the Administration for Native Americans (ANA), the permanent home for direct grants to Tribes and other Native American organizations in order to further the goal of economic and social self-sufficiency.

“I hate the idea of other people telling Indian people what to do. We have our own agendas and we should be allowed to carry them out,” said B. Thomas Vigil, former Deputy Commissioner for the ANA. Vigil was on detail from OEO to the BIA when Congress was considering passage of the Native American Programs Act. So he was excited to join ANA as the deputy along with David Lester as the first commissioner. They encouraged other agencies to channel funds through ANA so Tribes could control more of their budgets directly.

The idea of self-determination has since spread throughout the federal government, even to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and most agencies are providing direct funding to Tribal governments, wherever it is allowed by Congress. Tribes continue to press for expansion of direct funding where it is not allowable under current statutes. However, the idea, and the proof that it could work, all started 50 years ago with the Economic Opportunity Act.