How federal agencies can meet obligations to tribes

Federal agencies with trust obligations to tribes can better support tribes and uphold trust responsibility by:

• Understanding how to use our acquisition tools.
• Knowing the funding authorities that support tribes and tribal use of our sources.

Acquisition support for Buy Indian Act, 8(a), and other special set-asides

We can help you conduct market research to support the Buy Indian Act or other Indian economic set-asides (or other acquisition advantages). For example, you can refine your search for products and services specifically by Native business categories in GSA Advantage, GSA eBuy, and GSA eLibrary. The identifiers for community-owned entities include:

GSA Advantage Native business identifiers are defined when you hover over them.

• Alaska Native corporation owned — an
• Native Hawaiian organization owned — hn
• Tribally owned — to

And individually owned:

American Indian Owned — ai

Screenshot of GSA Advantage advanced search socioeconomic categories

You can apply multiple search criteria at once in our eTools, such as looking for office supplies that have both 8(a) status and are tribally owned.

If you have questions about 8(a) or other Native small business programs, please visit the SBA Office of Native American Affairs page.

Authorities that enable tribal entities to come to us

As a federal agency, you have various authorities under which you can provide federal funding to tribes and enable them to come to us. This table shows the specific authorities that agencies can use, paving the way for tribes and tribal organizations to use our sources to meet their product and service needs. Blank cells indicate no eligibility. 

To ensure efficiency for tribal customers, use our standardized contract template language for tribes looking to use our authority.

Organization acronym key

• Bureau of Indian Affairs, or BIA.
• Bureau of Indian Education, or BIE.
• Bureau of Land Management, or BLM.
• Bureau of Reclamation, or Reclamation.
• Department of Transportation, or DOT.
• Indian Health Service, or IHS.
• National Park Service, or NPS.
• Office of Natural Resources Revenue, or ONRR.
• Office of Satellite Ground Services, OSGS.
• Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians, or OST.
• U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD.
• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, or FWS.

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