Tribal Governments

Relations between American Indians and the United States government have sometimes been unfriendly, while at other times they have been downright hostile. As the United States expanded westward, it repeatedly forced Indians to surrender their ancestral homes, violated treaties made with Indian tribes, and ordered them to move onto reservations. Throughout much of American history, the federal government managed Indians' affairs, usually in the government's interest rather than the Indians'.

In 1934, the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt passed the Indian Reorganization Act, which provided a basis for tribal self-government. The act empowered Indian tribes to write constitutions and to determine internal matters for themselves, instead of being governed by the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) in Washington.

There are nearly 300 self-governing Indian reservations in the United States. Indian tribes are sovereign, which means that they are considered separate nations. Importantly, though, tribes are considered domestic dependent nations, which have been required to surrender some of their independence to the United States. (The concept of a "dependent nation" is odd, and expresses Indians' difficult legal and political position, in which they are largely, but not completely, self-governing. Indian tribes are sovereign, but only because Congress has permitted them to be sovereign.) For the most part, Indians are entitled to govern themselves on their reservations, writing laws to regulate their affairs according to their needs and traditions. In addition to writing laws governing their reservations, Indian tribes maintain tribal courts, in which tribe members who commit minor crimes are tried according to tribal laws. Indians charged with major crimes are tried in federal courts.

All Indians born within the boundaries of the United States were made citizens under the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924. As citizens, they became eligible to vote in state and national elections. Also, while tribes do not pay federal income taxes, individual Indians do. Indians usually are not required to pay state income taxes, however. Because Indian reservations are considered separate nations, the Constitution and Bill of Rights do not apply to Indian tribes, except for the few specific mentions of Indians in the Constitution. In 1968, Congress passed the Indian Civil Rights Act, which extended some, but not all, of the protections of the Bill of Rights to Indians in their dealings with tribal governments. For instance, Indian tribes are not covered by the Establishment clause, which prevents governments from supporting a particular religion, and Indians charged with crimes have the right to hire an attorney, but not necessarily the right to have an attorney provided if they are unable to afford one.

A controversial recent aspect of tribal self-governance has resulted from the proliferation of casinos on Indian reservations. In 1988, Congress passed the Indian Gaming Act, which allows tribes to operate casinos and games of chance if gambling is legal in the state within which the tribe's reservation is located. Gambling has produced large revenues for some tribes, lifting beneficiaries out of poverty.