United States Senate Committee on Indian Affairs

Senate Indian Affairs Committee
Permanent select committee
Active

United States Senate
118th Congress
History
FormedFebruary 11, 1977
Leadership
ChairBrian Schatz (D)
Since February 3, 2021
Vice chairLisa Murkowski (R)
Since February 3, 2021
Structure
Seats11 members
Political partiesMajority (6)
  •   Democratic (6)
Minority (5)
Website
www.indian.senate.gov

The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs is a committee of the United States Senate charged with oversight in matters related to the American Indian, Native Hawaiian, and Alaska Native peoples. A Committee on Indian Affairs existed from 1820 to 1947, after which it was folded into the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs. A new Native Affairs Committee was created in 1977, initially as a select committee, as a result of the detachment of indigenous affairs from the new Committee on Energy and National Resources, which had succeeded the old Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs. The committee was initially intended to be temporary, but was made permanent in 1984. The committee tends to include senators from Western and Plains states, who have more Native American constituents.