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69-877: In particular, the political sovereignty of many indigenous nations marks substantive differences in historical experience from that of other racial and ethnic groups in the United States and Canada. Drawing from numerous disciplines such as anthropology , sociology , history , literature , political science , and gender studies , Native American studies scholars consider a variety of perspectives and employ diverse analytical and methodological tools in their work. Two key concepts shape Native American studies, according to Crow Creek Lakota scholar Elizabeth Cook-Lynn , indigenousness (as defined in culture, geography, and philosophy) and sovereignty (as legally and historically defined). Practitioners advocate for decolonization of indigenous peoples , political autonomy , and

138-472: A "court of Indian offenses". The court provided a venue for prosecuting criminal charges but afforded no relief for tribes seeking to resolve civil matters. Another five years later, Congress began providing funds to operate the Indian courts. While U.S. courts clarified some of the rights and responsibilities of states and the federal government toward the Indian nations within the new nation's first century, it

207-504: A basis for tribal enrollment in most cases. Federally recognized tribes are "unique governmental entities and are not extensions of State or local governments." Some tribes, such as the United Houma Nation , do not have federal recognition, but are recognized at the state level using procedures defined by various states, without regard to federal recognition. Other organizations self-identify as Native American tribes for

276-477: A political relationship with the U.S. government that does not derive from race or ethnicity." The United States Constitution mentions Native American tribes three times: These constitutional provisions, and subsequent interpretations by the Supreme Court (see below), are today often summarized in three principles of U.S. Indian law: The Marshall Trilogy is a set of three Supreme Court decisions in

345-472: A pre-1924 case that said, "when Indians are prepared to exercise the privileges and bear the burdens of" sui iuris , i.e. of one's own right and not under the power of someone else, "the tribal relation may be dissolved and the national guardianship brought to an end, but it rests with Congress to determine when and how this shall be done, and whether the emancipation shall be complete or only partial" ( U.S. v. Nice , 1916). The court further determined, based on

414-756: A result of a pair of treaties in 1830s, two tribal nations (the Cherokee and Choctaw ) each have the right to send non-voting members to the United States House of Representatives (similar to a non-state U.S. territory or the federal district ); the Choctaw have never exercised their right to do so since they were given the power and the Cherokee had not done so until appointing a delegate in 2019, though this delegate has not been accepted by Congress. Another dispute over American Indian government

483-475: A separate agency, the Bureau of Indian Affairs has been in place since 1824. The idea that tribes have an inherent right to govern themselves is at the foundation of their constitutional status – the power is not delegated by congressional acts. Congress can, however, limit tribal sovereignty. Unless a treaty or federal statute removes a power, however, the tribe is assumed to possess it. Current federal policy in

552-653: A stable social and political structure at the helm of these tribes or states. The Revenue Act of 1924 ( Pub. L.   68–176 , H.R. 6715, 43  Stat.   253 , enacted June 2, 1924 ), also known as the Mellon tax bill after U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon , cut federal tax rates and established the U.S. Board of Tax Appeals , which was later renamed the United States Tax Court in 1942. The Revenue Act

621-412: A tax from the tribe, were not exempted from the tribal justice system because they had been granted U.S. citizenship. It found that tribes "still possess their inherent sovereignty excepting only when it has been specifically taken from them by treaty or Congressional Act". This means American Indians do not have exactly the same rights of citizenship as other American citizens. The court cited case law from

690-454: A variety of reasons; they may be a scattered tribe who no longer exist as an organized nation, or they have not completed the certification process established by the government entities in question, they may have lost their recognition through termination , or they may be a group of non-Native individuals seeking recognition as a tribe for other reasons. Some federally recognized tribes are confederacies of more than one tribe. Historically,

759-411: Is a legal term in United States law with a specific meaning. A Native American tribe recognized by the United States government possesses tribal sovereignty , a "domestic dependent, sovereign nation" status with the U.S. federal government that is similar to that of a state in some situations, and that of a nation in others, holding a government-to-government relationship with the federal government of

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828-482: Is empowered to "regulate commerce with foreign nations…states…and with the Indian tribes." Technically, Congress has no more power over Indian nations than it does over individual states. In the 1970s, Native American self-determination replaced Indian termination policy as the official United States policy towards Native Americans. Self-determination promoted the ability of tribes to self-govern and make decisions concerning their people. In dealing with Indian policy,

897-469: Is its sovereignty versus that of the states. The federal U.S. government has always been the government that makes treaties with Indian tribes – not individual states. Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution states that "Congress shall have the power to regulate Commerce with foreign nations and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes". This determined that Indian tribes were separate from

966-766: Is not regulation or legislation in place to sufficiently curb this practice at the rate necessary to preserve Native American land and natural resources. In 2023, the federally-recognized Resighini Rancheria of the Yurok People, Tolowa Dee-ni' Nation , and Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community of the Trinidad Rancheria announced that as territorial governments they have protected the Yurok-Tolowa-Dee-ni' Indigenous Marine Stewardship Area of 700 square miles (1,800 km ) of ocean waters and coastline reaching from Oregon to just south of Trinidad in

1035-535: Is reasonably well settled, tribes are still striving to achieve criminal jurisdiction over non-Native persons who commit crimes in Indian Country. This is largely due to the Supreme Court's ruling in 1978 in Oliphant v. Suquamish Indian Tribe that tribes lack the inherent authority to arrest, try and convict non-Natives who commit crimes on their lands (see below for additional discussion on this point.) As

1104-565: Is very powerful. Indigenous researchers must be afforded the opportunity to critique and fine tune the methodologies so that their experiences are more accurately represented.  Canada Europe Native American sovereignty Tribal sovereignty in the United States is the concept of the inherent authority of Indigenous tribes to govern themselves within the borders of the United States. The U.S. federal government recognized American Indian tribes as independent nations and came to policy agreements with them via treaties . As

1173-448: The Duro fix , also over non-member Indians regarding crime on tribal land. The Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 expanded the criminal jurisdiction of tribes over non-Indian perpetrators of domestic violence that occur in Indian Country when the victim is Indian. The 1968 Indian Civil Rights Act limited tribal punishment to one year in jail and a $ 5,000 fine, but this

1242-678: The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act [43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.]. Such tribes, including Alaska Native village or regional corporations recognized as such, are known as "federally recognized tribes" and are eligible for special programs and services provided by the United States . The BIA, part of the US Department of the Interior, issues Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood , which tribes use as

1311-653: The Chippewa ceding extensive lands to the U.S., but maintaining usufructuary rights to fishing, hunting, and gathering in perpetuity on all ceded land. Wartime industry of the early 1900s introduced uranium mining and the need for weapons testing sites, for which the U.S. federal government often selected former and current tribal territories in the southwestern deserts. Uranium mines were constructed upstream of Navajo and Hopi reservations in Arizona and Nevada, measurably contaminating Native American water supply through

1380-529: The Redwood National and State Parks . Tribe (Native American) In the United States, an American Indian tribe , Native American tribe , Alaska Native village , Indigenous tribe , or Tribal nation may be any current or historical tribe , band, or nation of Native Americans in the United States . Modern forms of these entities are often associated with land or territory of an Indian reservation . " Federally recognized Indian tribe "

1449-475: The United States recognizes this sovereignty and stresses the government-to-government relations between the United States and Federally recognized tribes . However, most Native American land is held in trust by the United States, and federal law still regulates the economic rights of tribal governments and political rights. Tribal jurisdiction over persons and things within tribal borders are often at issue. While tribal criminal jurisdiction over Native Americans

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1518-553: The 1940s and 1950s with lasting impacts to this day. The Nevada desert was also a common nuclear testing site for the U.S. military through World War II and the Cold War , the closest residents being Navajo Nation members. In 1970, President Richard Nixon established the federal government's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In 1974, the EPA became the first U.S. federal agency to release an Indian Policy, which established

1587-517: The Congress has plenary power over all Native American tribes within its borders by rationalization that "The power of the general government over these remnants of a race once powerful ... is necessary to their protection as well as to the safety of those among whom they dwell". The Supreme Court affirmed that the U.S. Government "has the right and authority, instead of controlling them by treaties, to govern them by acts of Congress, they being within

1656-457: The English word tribe is a people organized with a non– state government, who typically claim descent from a common founder and who speaks the same language . In addition to their status as legal entities, tribes have political, social, and historical rights and responsibilities. The term also refers to communities of Native Americans who historically inhabit a particular landbase and share

1725-556: The Fort Belknap Indian community are not in part, at least, arms of the federal government. Originally they were created by federal executive and imposed upon the Indian community, and to this day the federal government still maintains a partial control over them." In the end however, the Ninth Circuit limited its decision to the particular reservation in question and stated, "it does not follow from our decision that

1794-521: The Indians of the time. In essence, the act broke up the land of most all tribes into modest parcels to be distributed to Indian families, and those remaining were auctioned off to white purchasers. Indians who accepted the farmland and became "civilized" were made American citizens. But the Act itself proved disastrous for Indians, as much tribal land was lost, and cultural traditions destroyed. Whites benefited

1863-672: The State of California formed rancherias and Nevada formed Indian Colonies . Multiethnic entities were formed by the U.S. federal government or by treaty with the U.S. government for the purpose of being assigned to reservations. For example, 19 tribes that existed in 1872 combined at that time to form the Colville Confederated Tribes, which is now the single federally recognized tribe, Colville Indian Reservation in Washington state . The international meaning of

1932-600: The Supreme Court at that time, Warren Burger , and Justice Thurgood Marshall filed a dissenting opinion). But the case left unanswered some questions, including whether tribal courts could use criminal contempt powers against non-Indians to maintain decorum in the courtroom, or whether tribal courts could subpoena non-Indians. A 1981 case, Montana v. United States , clarified that tribal nations possess inherent power over their internal affairs, and civil authority over non-members on fee-simple lands within its reservation when their "conduct threatens or has some direct effect on

2001-472: The Supreme Court held that a tribal court does not have criminal jurisdiction over a non-member Indian, but that tribes "also possess their traditional and undisputed power to exclude persons who they deem to be undesirable from tribal lands. ... Tribal law enforcement authorities have the power if necessary, to eject them. Where jurisdiction to try and punish an offender rests outside the tribe, tribal officers may exercise their power to detain and transport him to

2070-600: The U.S Supreme Court ruled in McGirt v. Oklahoma that the state of Oklahoma acted outside its jurisdiction when trying a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation in 1997 for rape and that the case should have been tried in federal court since Congress had never officially dissolved the reservation in question. The ruling's expansion of jurisdiction sovereignty also opened the possibility for Native Americans to obtain more power in alcohol regulation and casino gambling. Similar to

2139-522: The U.S. accelerated its westward expansion , internal political pressure grew for " Indian removal ", but the pace of treaty-making grew regardless. The Civil War forged the U.S. into a more centralized and nationalistic country, fueling a "full bore assault on tribal culture and institutions", and pressure for Native Americans to assimilate. In the Indian Appropriations Act of 1871 , Congress prohibited any future treaties. This move

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2208-430: The United States . Many terms used to describe Indigenous peoples of the United States are contested but have legal definitions that are not always understood by the general public. The term tribe is defined in the United States for some federal government purposes to include only tribes that are federally recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), and those Alaska Native tribes established pursuant to

2277-900: The United States retains control over the scope of tribal law making. Laws adopted by Native American governments must also pass the Secretarial Review of the Department of Interior through the Bureau of Indian Affairs. With crime twice as high on Indian lands, federal funding of tribal courts has been criticized by the United States Commission on Civil Rights and the Government Accountability Office as inadequate to allow them to perform necessary judicial functions, such as hiring officials trained in law, and prosecuting cases neglected by

2346-511: The United States. In 1831, Cherokee Nation v. Georgia established a trust relationship between the United States and tribal territories. This gave the U.S. federal government primary jurisdictional authority over tribal land use, while maintaining tribal members' rights to reside on their land and access its resources. Similarly, in 1841, a treaty between the U.S. federal government and the Mole Lake Band of Sokaogon Chippewa resulted in

2415-567: The bill into law. In 1934 the Indian Reorganization Act , codified as Title 25, Section 476 of the U.S. Code, allowed Indian nations to select from a catalogue of constitutional documents that enumerated powers for tribes and for tribal councils . Though the Act did not specifically recognize the Courts of Indian Offenses, 1934 is widely considered to be the year when tribal authority, rather than United States authority, gave

2484-486: The control of Congress, but except as Congress has expressly restricted or limited the internal powers of sovereignty vested in the Indian tribes such powers are still vested in the respective tribes and may be exercised by their duly constituted organs of government." In 1953, Congress enacted Public Law 280 , which gave some states extensive jurisdiction over the criminal and civil controversies involving Indians on Indian lands. Many, especially Indians, continue to believe

2553-454: The dawn of the 21st century, the powers of tribal courts across the United States varied, depending on whether the tribe was in a Public Law 280 (PL280) state (Alaska, California, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oregon, and Wisconsin). The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the 1978 decision Oliphant v. Suquamish Indian Tribe that tribes have no jurisdiction over non-Indians. Tribal courts maintain much criminal jurisdiction over their members, and because of

2622-757: The earlier Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock case, that "It is thoroughly established that Congress has plenary authority over Indians." The court held that, "the granting of citizenship in itself did not destroy ... jurisdiction of the Indian tribal courts and ... there was no intention on the part of Congress to do so." The adultery conviction and the power of tribal courts were upheld. Further, the court held that whilst no law had directly established tribal courts, federal funding "including pay and other expenses of judges of Indian courts" implied that they were legitimate courts. Iron Crow v. Oglala Sioux Tribe , 231 F.2d 89 (8th Cir. 1956) ("including pay and other expenses of judges of Indian courts"). At

2691-598: The early nineteenth century affirming the legal and political standing of Indian nations. Originally, the United States had recognized the Indian Tribes as independent nations, but after the Civil War, the U.S. suddenly changed its approach. The Indian Appropriations Act of 1871 had two significant sections. First, the Act ended United States recognition of additional Native American tribes or independent nations and prohibited additional treaties. Thus, it required

2760-433: The emergence of environmental justice movements in the United States through the 1990s, President Bill Clinton released executive orders 12898 (1994) and 13007 (1996). EO 12898 affirmed disparate impacts of climate change as stratified by socioeconomic status; EO 13007 ordered the protection of Native American cultural sites. Since the passage of EO 12898 and EO 13007, tribal prosecutors have litigated extensively against

2829-623: The establishment of a discipline dedicated to alleviating contemporary problems facing indigenous peoples. The Native American historical experience is marked by forcible and sometimes cooperative attempts at assimilation into mainstream European-American culture ( Americanization ). Beginning with missionaries and leading up to federally controlled schools , the aim was to educate American Indians so that they could return to their communities and facilitate cultural assimilation. As described by David Beck in his article "American Indian Higher Education before 1974: From Colonization to Self-Determination",

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2898-573: The federal government and industry polluters over land use and jurisdiction with varying degrees of success. In 2007, the U.N. adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People ("The Declaration"), despite the United States voting against it along with Australia , New Zealand , and Canada . In 2010, President Barack Obama revisited The Declaration and declared that the U.S. government now supported it; however, as of December 2022,

2967-419: The federal government no longer interact with the various tribes through treaties, but rather through statutes: That hereafter no Indian nation or tribe within the territory of the United States shall be acknowledged or recognized as an independent nation, tribe, or power with whom the United States may contract by treaty: Provided, further, that nothing herein contained shall be construed to invalidate or impair

3036-601: The federal government. The United States Constitution specifically mentions American Indians three times. Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 and the Section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment address the handling of "Indians not taxed" in the apportionment of the seats of the House of Representatives according to population and in so doing suggest that Indians need not be taxed. In Article I Section 8, Clause 3, Congress

3105-413: The federal or state governments and that the states did not have power to regulate commerce with the tribes, much less regulate the tribes. The states and tribal nations have clashed over many issues such as Indian gaming , fishing, and hunting. American Indians believed that they had treaties between their ancestors and the United States government, protecting their right to fish, while non-Indians believed

3174-535: The field of Native Americans Studies. These fundamental questions range from who can study Native American Studies in undergraduate courses to how academics of non-Indian descent dominate Native American Studies and surrounding discourse. Linda Tuhiwai Smith is a professor of education and Maori development and Pro-Vice-Chancellor Maori at the University of Waikato in Hamilton, New Zealand . Smith explains that

3243-453: The geographical limit of the United States. ... The Indians owe no allegiance to a State within which their reservation may be established, and the State gives them no protection." Passed by Congress in 1887, the "Dawes Act" was named for Senator Henry L. Dawes of Massachusetts, Chairman of the Senate's Indian Affairs Committee. It came as another crucial step in attacking the tribal aspect of

3312-401: The knowledge base of Native American studies is endogenous , emerging from indigenous communities. Developers of Native American studies widely dismissed scientific objectivity , since Western cultural biases have historically informed anthropology and other disciplines. Since the inception of Native American Studies, there’s been discourse on the question of who should study and contribute to

3381-493: The law unfair because it imposed a system of laws on the tribal nations without their approval. In 1965 the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit concluded that no law had ever extended provisions of the U.S. Constitution, including the right of habeas corpus , to tribal members brought before tribal courts. Still, the court concluded, "it is pure fiction to say that the Indian courts functioning in

3450-445: The model of environmental federalism operational today. Under this model, the federal EPA sets water, air, and waste disposal standards, but delegates enforcement authority and the opportunity to design stricter environmental regulations to each state. Enforcement authority over Native American territory, however, remains under federal EPA jurisdiction, unless a given tribe applies for and is granted Treatment as State (TAS) status. With

3519-478: The modern legal era, the courts and Congress have, however, further refined the often competing jurisdictions of tribal nations, states and the United States in regard to Indian law. In the 1978 case of Oliphant v. Suquamish Indian Tribe , the Supreme Court, in a 6–2 opinion authored by Justice William Rehnquist , concluded that tribal courts do not have jurisdiction over non-Indians (the Chief Justice of

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3588-534: The modern real estate market. While Native Nations have made substantial progress in land and resource sovereignty, such authority is limited to land classified as 'Native American owned.' In the private real estate market, however, big industry polluters and hopeful miners have made a practice of buying out individual landowners in Native American residential areas, subsequently using that land to build mines or factories which increase local pollution . There

3657-561: The most; for example, when the government made 2 million acres (8,100 km ) of Indian lands available in Oklahoma, 50,000 white settlers poured in almost instantly to claim it all (in a period of one day, April 22, 1889). Evolution of relationships: The evolution of the relationship between tribal governments and federal governments has been glued together through partnerships and agreements. Also running into problems of course such as finances which also led to not being able to have

3726-510: The obligation of any treaty heretofore lawfully made and ratified with any such Indian nation or tribe. The 1871 Act also made it a federal crime to commit murder, manslaughter, rape, assault with intent to kill, arson, burglary, and larceny within any Territory of the United States. On April 10, 1883, five years after establishing Indian police powers throughout the various reservations, the Indian Commissioner approved rules for

3795-521: The political integrity, the economic security, or the health or welfare of the tribe." Other cases of those years precluded states from interfering with tribal nations' sovereignty. Tribal sovereignty is dependent on, and subordinate to, only the federal government, not states, under Washington v. Confederated Tribes of Colville Indian Reservation (1980). Tribes are sovereign over tribal members and tribal land, under United States v. Mazurie (1975). In Duro v. Reina , 495 U.S. 676 (1990),

3864-724: The promised non-voting tribal delegates in the United States House of Representatives , the Maine House of Representatives maintains three state-level non-voting seats for representatives of the Passamaquoddy , Maliseet , and the Penobscot . Two of the seats are currently not filled in protest over issues of tribal sovereignty and rights. Following industrialization, the 1800s brought many challenges to tribal sovereignty over tribal members' occupied lands in

3933-664: The proper authorities." In response to this decision, Congress passed the ' Duro Fix', which recognizes the power of tribes to exercise criminal jurisdiction within their reservations over all Indians, including non-members. The Duro Fix was upheld by the Supreme Court in United States v. Lara , 541 U.S. 193 (2004). In Iron Crow v. Oglala Sioux Tribe , the United States Supreme Court concluded that two Oglala Sioux defendants convicted of adultery under tribal laws, and another challenging

4002-762: The requirements of The Declaration have still not been adopted into U.S. law. As recently as 2015, the Gold King Mine contaminated three million gallons of water in the Colorado River which serves as drinking water for the Navajo and Hopi downstream. The federal EPA appropriated $ 156,000 in reparations for Gold King Mine, while the Flint, Michigan water crisis in 2014 received $ 80 million in federal funds. A recent challenge faced by Native Americans regarding land and natural resource sovereignty has been posed by

4071-542: The schools were a tool for assimilation. Their focus was not academic, but training for industrial or domestic jobs. The Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s–60s contested mainstream methods of assimilationist indoctrination and the curriculum in K-12 schools and universities throughout the United States. American Indian students, coupled with sympathetic professors, assisted in creating programs with new goals. Rather than being focused on education for community assimilation there

4140-514: The states were responsible for regulating commercial and sports fishing. In the case Menominee Tribe v. United States in 1968, it was ruled that "the establishment of a reservation by treaty, statute or agreement includes an implied right of Indians to hunt and fish on that reservation free of regulation by the state". States have tried to extend their power over the tribes in many other instances, but federal government ruling has continuously ruled in favor of tribal sovereignty. A seminal court case

4209-412: The tribal court must comply with every constitutional restriction that is applicable to federal or state courts." While many modern courts in Indian nations today have established full faith and credit with state courts, the nations still have no direct access to U.S. courts. When an Indian nation files suit against a state in U.S. court, they do so with the approval of the Bureau of Indian Affairs . In

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4278-488: The tribal courts legitimacy. John Collier and Nathan Margold wrote the solicitor's opinion, "Powers of Indian Tribes" which was issued October 25, 1934, and commented on the wording of the Indian Reorganization Act . This opinion stated that sovereign powers inhered in Indian tribes except for where they were restricted by Congress. The opinion stated that "Conquest has brought the Indian tribes under

4347-480: The word "research" is linked to European colonialism. Indigenous peoples are apprehensive and cautious of that connection, and the pursuit of knowledge, or research, is deeply embedded in multiple layers of European and Colonial processes. Colonial definitions and understandings of native peoples were reported to the West and then those representations were sent back and attached to indigenous identity. In this way, research

4416-550: Was Worcester v. Georgia . Chief Justice Marshall found that "England had treated the tribes as sovereign and negotiated treaties of alliance with them. The United States followed suit, thus continuing the practice of recognizing tribal sovereignty. When the United States assumed the role of protector of the tribes, it neither denied nor destroyed their sovereignty." As determined in the Supreme Court case United States v. Nice (1916), U.S. citizens are subject to all U.S. laws even if they also have tribal citizenship. In July 2020,

4485-928: Was a move to educate for empowerment . Programs that practiced community outreach and focused on student retention on campus arose from that movement. The school programs fostered a new interpretation of American Indian history, sociology, and politics. During the First Convocation of American Indian Scholars in March 1970 at Princeton University , indigenous scholars drafted a plan to develop "Native American Studies as an Academic Discipline", which would defend indigenous control of land and indigenous rights and would ultimately reform US Indian Policy . This discipline would be informed by traditional knowledge , especially oral history , and would "defend indigenous nationhood in America". In contrast to Western anthropology,

4554-462: Was almost another century before United States courts determined what powers remained vested in the tribal nations. In the interim, as a trustee charged with protecting their interests and property, the federal government was legally entrusted with ownership and administration of the assets, land, water, and treaty rights of the tribal nations. The 1871 Act was affirmed in 1886 by the U.S. Supreme Court, in United States v. Kagama , which affirmed that

4623-761: Was applicable to incomes for 1924. The bottom rate, on income under $ 4,000, fell from 1.5% to 1.125% (both rates are after reduction by the " earned income credit "). A parallel act, the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 ( Pub. L.   68–175 , H.R. 6355, 43  Stat.   253 , enacted June 2, 1924 ), granted all non-citizen resident Indians citizenship. Thus the Revenue Act declared that there were no longer any "Indians, not taxed" to be not counted for purposes of United States congressional apportionment . President Calvin Coolidge signed

4692-823: Was expanded by the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010 . While tribal nations do not enjoy direct access to U.S. courts to bring cases against individual states, as sovereign nations they do enjoy immunity against many lawsuits, unless a plaintiff is granted a waiver by the tribe or by congressional abrogation. The sovereignty extends to tribal enterprises and tribal casinos or gaming commissions. The Indian Civil Rights Act does not allow actions against an Indian tribe in federal court for deprivation of substantive rights, except for habeas corpus proceedings. Tribal and pueblo governments today launch far-reaching economic ventures, operate growing law enforcement agencies, and adopt codes to govern conduct within their jurisdiction, while

4761-470: Was steadfastly opposed by Native Americans. Currently, the U.S. recognizes tribal nations as " domestic dependent nations " and uses its own legal system to define the relationship between the federal, state, and tribal governments. The U.S. recognizes 574 tribal nations, 229 of which are in Alaska. The National Congress of American Indians explains, "Native peoples and governments have inherent rights and

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