Federal Indian Law: A Brief Introduction

Native American Tribes and Nations are self-governing sovereigns that exist simultaneously within the United States, yet separate and apart from many Federal and State laws and institutions. This three-part series explores the unique legal and political status of the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. population - American Indians and Alaska Natives - and the 574 Federally recognized Tribes, Nations, Pueblos, and Rancherias to which many belong.

Part 1 of this 3 Part series, "Federal Indian Law: A Brief Introduction," examines how Tribes, which pre-date the United States Constitution and are expressly recognized by it, retain their inherent powers of self-governance except where limited by Congress. The term "Federal Indian Law" refers to the thousands of treaties, statutes, Presidential executive orders, and court decisions by which the United States defines the status of Indians, Native American and Alaska Native governments, and Tribal sovereignty: the right of Indians living on Tribal homelands, as described by the United States Supreme Court, to "make their own laws and be ruled by them." Part I also introduces the U.S. government's Trust Responsibility to Tribes. This is the foundation for Tribal Consultation: The requirement that Federal officials must consult meaningfully with Native American and Alaska Nations, on a government-to-government basis, when engaging in permitting and other decision-making.

 

Learning Objectives: 

1. Understand the basic legal and political status of American Indians and Alaska Natives in the United States as recognized by Federal law
2. Gain insight into the meaning of "Tribal Sovereignty" as the inherent right of Native American Tribes and Nations to make and enforce their own laws and Institutions on their Federally recognized reservation homelands except where expressly limited by the plenary power of the US Congress
3. Become more aware of the Federal government's Trust Responsibility to Indian Tribes, including how it is judicially enforced and as the basis for the Tribal Consultation requirement
4. Explain why State governments' power over Tribes is typically limited unless explicitly authorized by Congress