From Backlash to Bingo: Ronald Reagan and Federal Indian Policy

Ronald Reagan's contribution to federal Indian policy proved mixed. Remarks by members of his administration recalled the heyday of termination, and Reagan's budget cuts fell hard on Native Americans. Reagan also played to non-Indian backlash by supporting legislation that restricted tribal rights to file claims on land disputes. Still, the administration continued the policy of tribal self-determination, begun under Richard M. Nixon. Reagan signed legislation to restore the Klamaths to federal trust responsibility, to help tribes “contract out” to run many federal services themselves, and to recognize and regulate gaming on Indian reservations. Most importantly, Reagan affirmed “government to government” relationships between the federal government, states, and tribes. Federal Indian policy mirrored other aspects of U.S. politics in the 1980s, including reductions in domestic spending, white reaction against minority civil rights gains, and the extolling of entrepreneurship. But the administration's ability, and even its willingness, to reverse the trend toward tribal self-determination proved limited.