Released by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of the Secretary Office of the Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs on January 16, 2014, the American Indian Population and Labor Force Report, 2013 describes the information found in both the 2010 Labor Force Survey of American Indians and Alaska Natives and the statistics disclosed by the U.S. Census Bureau. The first findings stated within the report are in relation to population. The population associated within all federally recognized tribes in 2010 was 1,969,167 with the highest population living in Oklahoma. The Bureau of Indian Affairs region with the highest population was Eastern Oklahoma, with 335,529. It was found that there are more males than females in the approximately 28 percent of the population that was below 16 years old. The next age group, approximately 65 percent of the population, ranged in age from 16 to 64 with slightly more females. The last group of those aged 65 and older again had more women than men. They finished the remaining 7 percent of the …show more content…
In June of 2015, the GAO found multiple issues within the BIA. The first is that the BIA does not have the information needed to confirm ownership of some Indian oil and gas resources. Next, the BIA's review is required but BIA does not have a documented process or the data needed to track its review and response times, as called for in implementation guidance for Executive Order 13604. At times it has taken as long as eight years to receive a response and tribes have lost as much as $95 million in profit due to the delays. In addition, some BIA regional and agency offices do not have staff with the skills needed to effectively evaluate energy-related documents or adequate staff resources. It is important for the right people to be recruited and trained for the jobs at hand. The GAO has recommended multiple things to fix the issues within the BIA. First, they are working to fix the issue of inadequately trained staff. Moreover, the GAO suggested that Interior address the issues with data limitations, track its review process, and provide guidance. and royalties. The GAO found that Bureau of Indian Affairs' management issues have drastically slowed Indian energy development using the land’s natural