Native American Sovereignty and The Constitution
The United States Constitution specifically mentions the relationship between the United States federal government and Native American tribes three times:
- Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 states that "Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States ... excluding Indians not taxed." According to Storey's Commentary on the US Constitution, "There were Indians, also, in several, and probably in most, of the states at that period, who were not treated as citizens, and yet, who did not form a part of independent communities or tribes, exercising general sovereignty and powers of government within the boundaries of the states."
- Article I, 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”, determining that Indian tribes were separate from the federal government, the states, and foreign nations; and
- The Fourteenth Amendment, Section 2 amends the apportionment of representatives in Article I, Section 2 above.
These basic provisions have been changed and/or clarified by various federal laws over the history of the United States. Regulate, historically means facilitate. Therefore, the Congress of these United States was to be the facilitator of commerce between the states and the tribes.
These Constitutional provisions, and subsequent interpretations by the Supreme Court (see below) are today often summarized in three principles of U.S. Indian law:
- Territorial Sovereignty. Tribal authority on Indian land is organic and is not granted by the states in which Indian lands are located.
- Plenary Power Doctrine. Congress, and not the Executive Branch, has ultimate authority with regard to matters affecting the Indian tribes. Federal courts give greater deference to Congress on Indian matters than on other subjects.
- Trust Relationship. The federal government has a "duty to protect" the tribes, implying (courts have found) the necessary legislative and executive authorities to effect that duty.
Read more about this topic: Tribal Sovereignty In The United States
Famous quotes containing the words native american, native, american, sovereignty and/or constitution:
“There can be no more ancient and traditional American value than ignorance. English-only speakers brought it with them to this country three centuries ago, and they quickly imposed it on the Africans—who were not allowed to learn to read and write—and on the Native Americans, who were simply not allowed.”
—Barbara Ehrenreich (b. 1941)
“When I think of my own native land,
In a moment I seem to be there;
But alas! recollection at hand
Soon hurries me back to despair.”
—William Cowper (1731–1800)
“Profound as race prejudice is against the Negro American, it is not practically as far- reaching as the prejudice against women. For stripping away the sentimentality which makes Mother’s Day and Best American Mother Contests, the truth is that women suffer all the effects of a minority.”
—Pearl S. Buck (1892–1973)
“A family on the throne is an interesting idea.... It brings down the pride of sovereignty to the level of petty life.”
—Walter Bagehot (1826–1877)
“Without the Constitution and the Union, we could not have attained the result; but even these, are not the primary cause of our great prosperity. There is something back of these, entwining itself more closely about the human heart. That something, is the principle of “Liberty to all”Mthe principle that clears the path for all—gives hope to all—and, by consequence, enterprize [sic], and industry to all.”
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)