Findings show that an equivalent percentage of tribal and State child welfare supervisors had social work degrees, had an equivalent number of years of previous experience in the child welfare field, and had equivalent agency position requirements. Most tribal supervisors were Native Americans, and most State supervisors were Caucasian. Cultural auspice was also associated with the number and type of tasks associated with child welfare supervision. With the exception of having a similar span of control, the tasks of State supervisors were likely to be limited to traditional majority-culture definitions of first-line supervision. The tasks of tribal supervisors included these traditional tasks as well as the carrying of a client caseload and many other agency-focused and community-focused responsibilities. Additionally, tribal supervisors were likely to have received and to want inservice training across a broader range of skills than State supervisors. The author interprets these study results from a systems perspective of ethnic-sensitive agency practice. 2 tables and 37 references