FAQs – Utah Division of Indian Affairs

The term, ‘American Indian’, was accepted by most as the original reference to the Indigenous peoples of the United States. Initially, it denoted the native groups served by the U.S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs in recognition of treaties between the various tribes and the U.S. Government. ‘Native American,’ came into usage by various college campuses throughout the country during the tumultuous social movements of 1970s. Technically speaking, anyone born within the boundaries of the continental Unites States is a ‘Native American.’ Therefore, the preferred term is American Indian.

In order to receive any services from a tribal government, a person must be a member of the tribe. There are currently 567 federally recognized American Indian tribes in the United States. Each tribe establishes its own membership laws and criteria governing membership. Most Indian tribes determine membership based upon blood quantum i.e. ¼ Indian blood. Some tribes determine membership based upon historical township listings and other records. An example: The Ute Indian Tribe of Utah has one of the highest blood quantum requirements: 5/8 Ute Indian blood.

American Indians receive services from the U.S. Government as a result of war and ensuing treaties that were entered into between the tribes and the U.S. Government. These treaties represented an accommodation to establish peace as Indians gave up millions of acres of land in exchange for promised services from the government, such as food, housing, health, and education. The federal government continues to provide housing and health services to Indian people. Although the federal government does operate some schools for Indian children in other parts of the nation, most Utah Indian school age students attend public schools.

A small number of American Indians who receive checks do so because they are beneficiaries of lands that were passed down to them as a result of the 1887 Dawes Severalty and Allotment Act.

Those who own allotment lands receive payments for either leasing their lands to Non-Indian farmers or they receive mineral royalties from energy companies extracting such minerals from their leased lands. Less than 5 percent of American Indians receive such royalties.

Whenever a tribe is able to generate revenues, it is paid out to its members via per capita payments or, in the case of a profit, dividends.

In the past, most Indian tribes received services from the U.S. Government primarily through the Bureau of Indian Affairs under the Department of Interior. Presently, most Indian tribes, exercise self-determination and contract these programs from the government via Public Law 93-638, Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act, as amended, and administer these services to their members directly. Some of these services include health, education, and tribal governance. The services a tribe provides its members varies according to the size of the tribe, quality of its government, its assets, its natural resources, and revenues. Due to recent interpretations of treaty agreements, federally recognized Indian tribes are now served by all departments and branches of the federal government.