Federal Indian policy in the United States historically reflects both the hard-headed pragmatism of the Nation and its quixotic romanticism. Researchers can identify roughly drawn policy epochs and policy motivations, but there were no clean slates as policy shifted. The legal history of a tribe reflects the accumulatedand often contradictoryimpact of changing Federal policy. Complexity was added to the Government's approach by the application of single-minded policies to the exceedingly diverse native groups within the Nation's borders. An understanding of evolving Federal policy offers useful insights and a basis for creative legal theories. (Published Abstract)