February 1, 2017 1:00PM # AEI Forum on American Indians By [Chris Edwards](https://www.cato.org/people/chris-edwards) --- SHARE At an [AEI forum this week](http://www.aei.org/events/how-federal-policy-affects-native-americans-naomi-schaefer-riley-on-her-book-the-new-trail-of-tears-how-washington-is-destroying-american-indians/), Naomi Schaefer Riley discussed her insightful new book on Indian policies, *The New Trail of Tears.* I was pleased to take part in the forum alongside Robert Doar of AEI, Rep. Rob Bishop, and Keith Moore, who headed the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE). I focused on the bureaucratic [failures of the BIE and Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)](https://www.downsizinggovernment.org/interior/indian-lands-indian-subsidies), as well as the institutional factors that deter growth on reservations. All of the panelists agreed that the lack of individual property rights on reservations is a key problem. Keith Moore’s comments impressed me. Keith grew up on, and nearby, the Rosebud reservation in South Dakota. He served as BIE head from 2010 to 2012. Here are a few of his observations: - On the effects of subsidies: “Ingenuity, and the innovative, and creative parts of life have been pretty squelched for a long time because the government has provided.” - On reservation land being held in trust: “We’re not going to get where we need to go in Indian country until we have freedom, autonomy, and the ability to buy land and own it and create wealth.” - On the federal bureaucracy: “You look at the BIA system, it’s a nightmare. Bottom line, I lived it, I was in it, I left it … I don’t know how you move this bureaucratic titanic to get to a spot where it could have a positive effect. ” The answer, as I think Keith would agree, does not lie in the BIA/BIE, but in Congress and the tribes making fundamental institutional reforms in areas such as property rights and education. ![Media Name: indian_forum_aei.png](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/pubs_2x/public/wp-content/uploads/indian_forum_aei.png?itok=LOeT_rD9) For background on how federal policies toward American Indians have been failing for two centuries, [see this study](https://www.downsizinggovernment.org/interior/indian-lands-indian-subsidies). ##### Related Tags [Government and Politics](https://www.cato.org/government-politics), [Department of the Interior](https://www.cato.org/department-interior), [Downsizing Government](https://www.cato.org/downsizing-government) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).