Our Mission
The Administration for Native Americans (ANA) is a program office of the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Since 1974, ANA has partnered with Tribal Nations and Native communities—Native American, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander—to advance locally driven goals for social and economic self-sufficiency. We honor Tribal sovereignty by directing federal resources to locally designed projects that strengthen families, protect cultural heritage, build Tribal capacity, strengthen self-determination, sustain community-driven growth, and turn local vision into economic opportunity.
Our Beginnings
In January 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson declared the War on Poverty and called on communities to prepare "long-range plans for the attack on poverty." Eight months later, the Economic Opportunity Act was signed into law, and the newly formed Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) began awarding grants.
In the early 1970s, the OEO was terminated, but many of its War on Poverty concepts became the basis for ANA. ANA was established in 1974 through the Native American Programs Act (NAPA), embracing the goal of Native American self-determination — first endorsed by President Johnson in 1968, and later by President Richard Nixon.
You can read the full Native American Programs Act of 1974 (PDF).
Our Philosophy
ANA's approach to Native self-sufficiency and self-determination is based on three core beliefs:
A Native community is self-sufficient when it controls the resources needed to meet its social and economic goals and the needs of its citizens.
The responsibility for achieving self-sufficiency rests with Native governing bodies and community leadership.
Success is measured by the impact and effectiveness of community investments.