ABSTRACT
During the 1800s, two crucial factors guided policy makers in formulating federal Indian policy. The first factor that strongly dominated Indian policy was the settler’s greed for Indian land as they moved west. The other factor was the federal government’s desire to end the trust relationship with Native Americans. The attitude of nineteenth-century American society continued to regard Indians as “uncivilized” and “primitive.” Like nineteenth-century Indian policy, twentieth-century Indian policy also focused on a solution to the “Indian problem.” This required federal cooperation with Native peoples which resulted in an enormous federal financial and administrative entanglement. Once the policy makers solved the “Indian problem,” the federal government would no longer be in the business of providing support for Indian programs and services or be responsible for administrating Indian trust lands or supervising Indian affairs. In effect, resolving the “Indian problem” entails getting out of the “Indian business,” demanding that Congress terminate the trust relationship.
