Federal Indian Law: Understanding Tribal Sovereignty, Jurisdiction, and Sovereign Immunity

This presentation provides a brief overview of Federal Indian Law, with a specific focus on three areas – tribal sovereignty, tribal jurisdiction, and sovereign immunity. It will also explore the complicated history between the United States and its federally recognized Indian tribal nations.  

The presentation will touch on the fundamentals of working with Indian tribes, including the differences in state and federal acknowledgment, nomenclature, and the government-to-government relationships between the tribes and the United States government.

This presentation, led by attorneys Maureen Mitchell and Harry Jackson, focuses on the background concepts necessary for working with Federally-recognized Indian tribes, and how the concepts of sovereign immunity and jurisdiction impact other areas of Federal Indian Law including employment, tort, contracts, environmental regulation, and taxation.

Learning Objectives:

1. Discuss the basic fundamentals of Federal Indian Law

2. Explore the concept of tribal inherent sovereignty and its importance to American Indian tribes

3. Identify how sovereignty, and related topics such as jurisdiction and immunity, is at the forefront of working with Indian tribes and related body of law