The historical involvement of the federal government in the education of the American Indian has always carried with it one clear and consistent underlying theme: the federal government has both explicitly and implicitly acknowledged that there is a federal responsibility to Indian education. Treaties between the United States Government and Indian tribes which provided educational benefits, educational statutory enactments which specifically and implicitly included Indians, the promulgation of regulations concerned with Indian education, and the actions of individuals in a position to influence practical manifestations of Indian education policy have all contributed substantively to the historical development of the federal trust responsibility. This report addresses each of these influences specifically, citing legislation and court litigation, and attempts to define the role of each influence in this historical development. The report concludes that requirements for an Indian Education component within the new Department of Education must include a guarantee of maintenance of the federal trust responsibility, assurance that Indian preference will be implemented as a policy for all of Indian education, and use of the wording "American Indian, Alaska Natives, or Aleuts" in legislation developing the Indian Education Section of the Department of Education. (Author/NEC)