PERSPECTIVE ON AMERICAN INDIANS : Heed the Drums for Radical Reform : A dynamic new course needs to be charted in federal Indian policy, with some bold experimentation .

At the outset of every new Administration in Washington, a predictable chorus is heard lamenting 500 years of failed policy toward the American Indian and vowing to do better. Typically, this means cleaning up the Bureau of Indian Affairs and bringing private-sector jobs to the reservations. Task forces are appointed with well-meaning “Indian experts” who are otherwise best known for hobnobbing with the Hollywood set and decorating premieres of movies like “Dances With Wolves.” Yet almost without fail, problems in Shiprock and Wounded Knee fare no better than problems in Bosnia and Somalia.

On many Indian reservations, the unemployment rate exceeds 80%. According to the 1990 Census, of the 1.8 million American Indians, Eskimos and Aleuts in the United States, one-third live below the poverty level. According to a 1992 report by the University of Minnesota, the teen suicide rate among American Indians is four times that of other ethnic groups. Recently, the Indian Health Service reported that tuberculosis rates among Indian people exceeded all other ethnic groups by 400%. The BIA estimates that 93,000 Indian people live in substandard housing or are homeless. Indians are denied religious freedom by the federal government, and Leonard Peltier sits in a federal cell as an American political prisoner.

Why have we failed so miserably? Because federal policy-makers and, to some extent, the tribal governments have lacked the courage to change. A dynamic new course needs to be charted in federal Indian policy and some bold experimentation needs to be tried. This will take courage and confidence on both ends, and, most important, taking counsel on reforms from Indian country.

The BIA is one of the oldest and worst federal agencies. It traces its heritage to corrupt “Indian agents” who claimed traditional lands through dishonored treaties and fraudulent transactions, and today continues its irresponsible management style by failing to invest or properly account for $1.7 billion in Indian trust funds.

This dysfunctional old wreck has been ready for the scrap heap for decades. We should halve BIA bureaucracy in Washington, junk the fiefdoms that masquerade as BIA area offices and turn over BIA authority and programs directly to the tribes through self-governance agreements with the secretary of the Interior. Although the federal government remains the “trustee” for tribes, the tribes must be treated as sovereign entities. An experimental program among 30 tribes in which this concept has been tested has yielded excellent results.

If unemployment in a city reaches 20%, a crisis of national importance is declared immediately. Unemployment on reservations has always been over 50%. As we look toward a national fix for our economy, we need to consider the first Americans. Any economic stimulus legislation with tax incentives must include Indian reservations so that we can build a truly Indian private sector. We have a federally chartered Overseas Private Investment Corp. to insure U.S. private investment in unstable countries, but we have no such program for tribal lands. We need a domestic OPIC for reservations, as well as investment and employment tax credits.

Federal programs that target reservations as nuclear waste dumps as a means of economic development should be discontinued and replaced with programs that develop tribal resources. We need to create enterprise zones, Indian development banks and other measures to encourage private investment on reservations.

To complement this effort, tribes need to eliminate the huge red tape morasses that they sometimes impose on businesses and entrepreneurs wanting to invest on the reservation.

There is much to be done, too, in the areas of rights and justice. Throughout the country, Indians are being denied access to sacred sites; Indian prisoners are not allowed to exercise their religious rights as other inmates do. We need to pass an Indian religious freedom bill, which would include permission to use peyote as a sacramental and religious practice.

The eyes of the world are on the United States in the case of Indian activist Leonard Peltier, who is serving a life sentence for murdering two FBI agents. In light of new evidence that has surfaced since Peltier’s conviction, we should be resolute in assisting him in seeking a new trial. Symbolically, such a move would send a positive signal that justice is not blind to Indian people.

And just as we respect tribal sovereignty on the mainland, we should be respectful and sensitive to the legitimate aspirations of native Hawaiians for more self-government and self-determination.

On the 500th anniversary of Columbus’ landing on these shores last October, tribal leaders gathered on the mall in front of the Capitol. They gave speeches not about the 300 treaties the U.S. government broke, not about the deplorable conditions on reservations, but about the possibilities lying ahead in the next five centuries. These tribal elders were not holding out a tin cup asking for government handouts; they asked for help in developing their own economies.

They ended their ceremony with the following words:

We stand young warriors

in the circle

At dawn all storm clouds disappear

The future brings all hope and glory,

Ghost dancers rise

Five-hundred years.

During his campaign, Bill Clinton demonstrated a keen interest in Indian issues. As President, he has an unparalleled opportunity to right old wrongs by responding to the drum of reform beating from Indian country.