This study profiles the leadership exhibited by secondary school administrators in the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and contract schools serving American Indian students. Of 54 surveyed administrators, 44 percent completed a self-reported descriptive questionnaire and The Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI). Indian and non-Indian administrators were remarkably similar on the descriptive questionnaire. The primary exception was that non-Indians have more teaching and administrative experience. Both groups envisioned themselves as instructional leaders, yet failed to spend an adequate amount of time in this area. Instead, they reported that they were much more involved in time-consuming managerial duties. The LPI yields scores in the areas of challenging, inspiring, enabling, modeling, and encouraging. Scores indicated that Native American and non-Indian principals were in the high category for inspiring and modeling. Native American administrators scored high in the area of challenging, while non-Indian administrators scored lowest in this area. Challengers seek new opportunities and are risk takers. Educational administrators in BIA and contract schools need to develop skills which empower the teachers and recognize the teachers' achievements (enabling and encouraging). Suggestions include: (1) pre-training and staff development for BIA and contract principals; (2) on-going performance evaluations; and (3) reduction of managerial paperwork. (KS)