Bureau of Indian Affairs

March 11, 1824, the U.S. War Department creates the Bureau of Indian Affairs. In 1869, Seneca Indian Ely Parker becomes the first Indian to lead the Bureau.
On April 9, 1865, General Robert E Lee, General-in-Chief of the Confederate Army, surrendered his forces to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House; effectively ending the War Between the States. As the embattled southern warrior clasped hands with his northern contemporaries, he was immediately drawn to a dark skinned man with distinguished features. The casual conversation and reminiscences of days gone by fell silent as Lee walked over to address this individual. The man that had drawn the general’s attention was Lt. Colonel Ely S. Parker, a Seneca Chief and Military Secretary to General Grant. Parker was also the highest ranked Native American in the Union Army. It is said that Lee extended his hand and said to Parker, “ I’m glad to see that there is at least one real American here.” Parker shook the old soldier’s hand and responded, “We are all Americans sir.” Not only did Parker serve with distinction during the war, but, as Grant’s adjutant, he was responsible for transcribing the terms of surrender that Lee would sign. His remarkable career after the war would greatly benefit Native Americans and further secure their place within the nation that for so long had stifled their independence.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs is currently involved in a class-action lawsuit brought by Native American representatives against the United States government; see Cobell v. Kempthorne. The plaintiffs claim that the U.S. government has incorrectly accounted for Indian trust assets, which belong to individual Native Americans (as beneficial owners) but are managed by the Department of the Interior as the fiduciary trustee.