The National Indian Management Service of America, Inc. (NIMS), a nonprofit, Indian owned and controlled consulting firm was funded over a 3-year period (1977-1980) by the U.S. Office of Education/Office of Indian Education to conduct the first national study identifying and accurately describing the extent of problems of illiteracy and the lack of high school completion among adult American Indians, Aleuts, and Eskimos. To achieve a national sample representative of American Indian adults, research included data derived from cluster samples of counties (census districts in Alaska and Hawaii) throughout the United States. Structured home interviews provided information on functional literacy, educational attainment, and social situations of adult Indians, and descriptions of federal and state supported programs providing adult education services were also obtained. Results of this study have important implications for the future of Indian education. For the first time in history, a national data base accurately assessing the functional literacy, educational attainment, and expressed needs of American Indian adults is available to assist educators, legislators, tribal decision-makers, and others in their efforts obtain better educational quality and more Indian self-determination, and to achieve the goals, purposes, and funding levels necessary to enhance the educational programs of all Indians, Aleuts, and Eskimos of this nation. (Author/AH)