To develop a current "Indian jail profile," the authors conducted a pilot telephone survey of 18 Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) or tribal jails within six of the 11 BIA law enforcement areas. Areas of survey inquiry included basic jail characteristics (size, average daily population, staffing, monthly admissions, length of stay, etc.); existence of special programs such as mental health, medical, and alcohol treatment; number of deaths; and preliminary inquiry into policies and procedures. The survey found wide discrepancies in the reporting of data on suicidal behavior. Problems in data collection included not only fragmented information but also undocumented inmate suicide attempts, undocumented precursors to suicide, a difference in the Indian cultural concept of suicide, and jail staff's lack of training in suicide risk assessment. The article also reports on new BIA initiatives and developments for the improvement of both operational services and physical conditions within Indian jails and recommendations for continued basic and applied research. 7 notes and 16 references