For more than a century, the Department of the Interior, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the Bureau of Indian Education have exercised trusteeship over Haskell Indian Nations University (HINU). That trusteeship has failed—structurally repeatedly, and now irreversibly. The key provision of the HINU Improvement Act is that finally removes the federal incompetency that has kept Haskell strapped under a broken administrative regime. Without that reform Haskell cannot meet modern accreditation standards, cannot protect its trust assets, cannot stabilize its governance and cannot full its national mission to Native Nations.
The Higher Learning Commission has already made clear—through its Notice sanction, through its findings, and through its documented concerns—that Haskell cannot and will not achieve full accreditation under the current DOI/BIA/BIE structure. The accreditor cannot accredit a university that has no statutory charter, no lawful governing authority, no stable leadership, and no enforceable accountability framework. Only Congress can fix that. Only the HINU Improvement Act provides the egal foundation HLC requires.
HLC-Action-Letter-Haskell-Indian-Nations-University-7.8.25.pdf
The primary goal of the Haskell trustees is to protect the interest of the Indian beneficiaries. This includes making decisions that align with the trust’s objectives. The Haskell trustees’ action or inaction jeopardize these interests and removal pf the trustees is necessary. The HLC sanction “Accredited on Notice” documents the Haskell trustees’ violation of fiduciary trust duty. Congress has the plenary power and responsibility to remove the Haskell trustees.
The unavoidable truth is that Secretary Burgum, BIA and BIE trustees are not qualified to be a trustee of a university. The Haskell trustees stand as a guardian of the ward—the federal trustee over Indian education—and that legal status does not qualify them to act as a university trustee. Yet Secretary Burgum, together with the BIA and BIE, functions as the ultimate absolute trustee over Haskell Indian Nations University. Every significant decision, every budget, every leadership appointment, and every institutional priority at Haskell originates with these three federal trustees. The Higher Learning Commission sanction makes unmistakably clear what Haskell’s community has known for years, the federal trustees lack the qualifications, competence, and skill set required to govern a university. Secretary Burgum has a due process right to challenge the HLC sanction, but his silence is complicit. A qualified trustee would defend their institution, correct the record, or accept responsibility. Instead, the federal trustees remain mute while Haskell’s accreditation, students, faculty, and trust property remain in jeopardy. The HLC sanction is not merely an institutional warning—it is a public indictment of the federal trustees’ unfitness to oversee a university held in trust for Tribal Nations.
The America 250 series published by ICT underscores the truth that FNJ has been documenting in real time. The ICT America 250 series mirror the federal government’s long-standing neglect of its treaty-based educational obligations, including those owed to Haskell and SIPI.
AMERICA 250: Tribal nations and the Supreme Court – ICT
This federal government’s breach of trust responsibility to Indian people was enunciated clearly by Representative Tracey Mann (R-KAN) in a statement to the LJW “ “for years, the U S Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Indian Education has mismanaged the university, failed to comply with federal oversight, and turned a blind eye to misconduct that has been detrimental to Haskell.” Congress has limited knowledge of Indian Affairs and is uninformed resulting in the blind leading the blind.
Congress turns a blind eye to federal trustee mismanagement annually and approves Fiscal Year Indian education budgets submitted by the Department of the Interior.
The Department of the Interior Secretary Burgum turns a blind eye to the trust responsibility obligations because addressing them is inconvenient or costly. Mismanagement and chronic underfunding of Haskell is decades old and the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs (SCIA) has the HLC evidence of violation of fiduciary trust responsibility documented. The SCIA must recommend their findings to Congress to resolve federal trust failure at Haskell Indian Nations University.
First Nations Journal presses the Haskell Indian Nations University Improvement Act (S.2140) to be enacted by Congress. It is the only option. The time for polite suggestions has passed. The time for incrementalism has expired. The federal government has run out of excuses. At this moment in 2026, there is only one path left to SAVE HASKELL and to secure the future of Indian education in the United States: Congress must pass the HINU Improvement Act. Nothing else will work. Nothing else can work.
The HLC accreditor cannot accredit a university that has no statutory charter, no lawful governing authority, no stable leadership, and no enforceable accountability framework. Oly Congress can fix that. Haskell is not failing—its federal trusteeship is failing, and only Congress can end that failure.
First Nations Journal argues passage of the HINU Improvement Act is the only option left to save Haskell, protect the Haskell Wetlands, restore lawful governance, and secure the future of Indian education.
It is time—past time—for Congress to act. FNJ Calls to Action for Congress to pass the HINU Improvement Act.
FIRST NATIONS JOURNAL
M’gwitch, 🪶
Steve Cadue
Kickapoo
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