The Indian Affairs Directives System

Contains the policies and procedures that document the functions under the authority of the Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs (AS-IA). The Directives System provides the structure for developing and publishing clear, concise, and consistent Indian Affairs program and administrative policy. The Acting AS-IA issued a memorandum in February 2016 reiterating the importance of developing IA policy, and working through the Office of Regulatory Affairs and Collaborative Action (RACA) to do so. The memo can be found by clicking here: IA Policy and Directives.

There are six components of the Directives System, with links to the respective documents. 

• Indian Affairs Manual (IAM)
• Regional Directives
• Handbooks
• Assistant Secretary's Orders
• National Policy Memoranda
• Regional Policy Memoranda
• Online Forms

Indian Affairs employees may access templates and other Directives guidance by visiting the Office of Regulatory Affairs and Collaborative Action's Intranet website.

Additionally, a cross-reference of available Bureau of Indian Affairs Manual (BIAM) chapters and IAMs is available (and updated periodically as we locate historical BIAMs):

• (Historic) Bureau of Indian Affairs Manual (BIAM)

For questions or comments regarding the IA Directives System components, please contact the IA Office of Regulatory Affairs and Collaborative Action (RACA) at: IAPolicy_and_Directives@bia.gov

This link provides access to the DOI Department Manual (DM), which contains DOI policies:

• DOI Departmental Manual (DM)