Tribal Self-Governance, throughout the Demonstration Phase in the both Bureau of Indian Affairs and Indian Health Service and into permanency in the Department of the Interior, has created opportunities for Tribes to exercise their inherent self-governing powers through greater control over Tribal affairs and enhanced Tribal governmental responsibilities.

The goals of Self-Governance are to:

• Formalize relations between the United States and Indian Tribes on a government-to-government basis as provided for in the United States Constitution
• Downsize the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Indian Health Service to be compatible with its new role
• Recognize American Indian Tribes’ right to determine internal priorities, redesign and create new Tribal programs and reallocate financial resources to more effectively and efficiently meet the needs of their Tribal communities;
• Promote greater social, economic, political, cultural stability and self-sufficiency among Indian Tribes by better utilizing the resources obligated in treaties, executive orders, and acts of congress;
• Establish better fiscal accountability through expanded Tribal Governmental decision-making authority;
• Institute administrative cost-efficiencies between Tribal governments and the United States through reduced bureaucratic burdens and streamlined decision-making processes; and,
• Change the role of the Federal departments and agencies serving Indian Tribes by shifting their responsibilities from day-to-day management of Tribal affairs to that of protectors and advocates of Tribal interests.