Indian treaties
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The following
outline Outline or outlining may refer to: * Outline (list), a document summary, in hierarchical list format * Code folding, a method of hiding or collapsing code or text to see content in outline form * Outline drawing, a sketch depicting the outer edge ...
is provided as an overview of and topical guide to United States federal Indian law and policy:
Federal Indian policy Federal Indian policy establishes the relationship between the United States Government and the Indian Tribes within its borders. The Constitution gives the federal government primary responsibility for dealing with tribes. Some scholars divide the ...
– establishes the relationship between the United States Government and the Indian Tribes within its borders. The Constitution gives the federal government primary responsibility for dealing with tribes. Law and U.S. public policy related to Native Americans have evolved continuously since the founding of the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
.
David R. Wrone David R. Wrone (born May 15, 1933) is an American academic, author and historian. He is a professor emeritus of history at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and a specialist in the fields of History of Native Americans in the United States, ...
argues that the failure of the treaty system was because of the inability of an individualistic, democratic society to recognize group rights or the value of an organic, corporatist culture represented by the tribes.


U.S. Supreme Court cases

List of United States Supreme Court cases involving Indian tribes This is a list of U.S. Supreme Court cases involving Native American Tribes. Included in the list are Supreme Court cases that have a major component that deals with the relationship between tribes, between a governmental entity and tribes, triba ...


Citizenship


Adoption

*''
Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians v. Holyfield ''Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians v. Holyfield'', 490 U.S. 30 (1989), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that the Indian Child Welfare Act governed adoptions of Indian children. It ruled that a tribal court had jur ...
'', *''
Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl ''Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl'', 570 U.S. 637 (2013), was a decision of the Supreme Court of the United States that held that several sections of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) do not apply to Native American biological fathers who are not ...
,''


Tribal

*'' Ex parte Joins'', *''
Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez ''Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez'', 436 U.S. 49 (1978), was a landmark case in the area of Outline of United States federal Indian law and policy, federal Indian law involving issues of great importance to the meaning of Tribal sovereignty in the ...
'', *''
Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians v. Holyfield ''Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians v. Holyfield'', 490 U.S. 30 (1989), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that the Indian Child Welfare Act governed adoptions of Indian children. It ruled that a tribal court had jur ...
'', *''
South Dakota v. Bourland ''South Dakota v. Bourland'', 508 U.S. 679 (1993), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that Congress specifically abrogated treaty rights with the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe as to hunting and fishing rights on reservati ...
'',


Civil rights

*''
Oliphant v. Suquamish Indian Tribe ''Oliphant v. Suquamish Indian Tribe'', 435 U.S. 191 (1978), is a United States Supreme Court case deciding that Indian tribal courts have no criminal jurisdiction over non-Indians.. The case was decided on March 6, 1978 with a 6–2 majority. Th ...
'', *'' United States v. Wheeler'',


Congressional authority

*'' Ex parte Joins'', *''
White Mountain Apache Tribe v. Bracker ''White Mountain Apache Tribe v. Bracker'', 448 U.S. 136 (1980), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States holding that Arizona, Arizona's taxes that were assessed against a non-Indian contractor that was working exclusively for ...
'', *''
California v. Cabazon Band of Mission Indians ''California v. Cabazon Band of Mission Indians'', 480 U.S. 202 (1987), was a United States Supreme Court case involving the development of Native American gaming. The Supreme Court's decision effectively overturned the existing laws restricting g ...
'', *''
South Dakota v. Bourland ''South Dakota v. Bourland'', 508 U.S. 679 (1993), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that Congress specifically abrogated treaty rights with the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe as to hunting and fishing rights on reservati ...
'', *''
United States v. Lara ''United States v. Lara'', 541 U.S. 193 (2004), was a United States Supreme Court landmark case which held that both the United States and a Native American (Indian) tribe could prosecute an Indian for the same acts that constituted crimes in bo ...
'',


Gambling

*''
California v. Cabazon Band of Mission Indians ''California v. Cabazon Band of Mission Indians'', 480 U.S. 202 (1987), was a United States Supreme Court case involving the development of Native American gaming. The Supreme Court's decision effectively overturned the existing laws restricting g ...
'',


Hunting and fishing rights

*''
Menominee Tribe v. United States The Menominee (; mez, omǣqnomenēwak meaning ''"Menominee People"'', also spelled Menomini, derived from the Ojibwe language word for "Wild Rice People"; known as ''Mamaceqtaw'', "the people", in the Menominee language) are a federally recog ...
'', *'' New Mexico v. Mescalero Apache Tribe'', *''
Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife v. Klamath Indian Tribe Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...
'', *'' Brendale v. Confederated Yakima Indian Nation'', *''
South Dakota v. Bourland ''South Dakota v. Bourland'', 508 U.S. 679 (1993), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that Congress specifically abrogated treaty rights with the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe as to hunting and fishing rights on reservati ...
'',


Jurisdiction

*''
Iowa Mutual Insurance Co. v. LaPlante Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...
'', *''
California v. Cabazon Band of Mission Indians ''California v. Cabazon Band of Mission Indians'', 480 U.S. 202 (1987), was a United States Supreme Court case involving the development of Native American gaming. The Supreme Court's decision effectively overturned the existing laws restricting g ...
'', *''
Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians v. Holyfield ''Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians v. Holyfield'', 490 U.S. 30 (1989), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that the Indian Child Welfare Act governed adoptions of Indian children. It ruled that a tribal court had jur ...
'', *''
South Dakota v. Bourland ''South Dakota v. Bourland'', 508 U.S. 679 (1993), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that Congress specifically abrogated treaty rights with the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe as to hunting and fishing rights on reservati ...
'', *''
Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl ''Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl'', 570 U.S. 637 (2013), was a decision of the Supreme Court of the United States that held that several sections of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) do not apply to Native American biological fathers who are not ...
,''


Criminal

*''
Ex parte Crow Dog ''Ex parte Crow Dog'', 109 U.S. 556 (1883), is a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States that followed the death of one member of a Native American tribe at the hands of another on reservation land. Crow Dog was a member of th ...
'', *'' United States v. Wheeler'', *''
Duro v. Reina ''Duro v. Reina'', 495 U.S. 676 (1990), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court concluded that Indian tribes could not prosecute Indians who were members of other tribes for crimes committed by those nonmember Indians on their re ...
'', *''
United States v. Lara ''United States v. Lara'', 541 U.S. 193 (2004), was a United States Supreme Court landmark case which held that both the United States and a Native American (Indian) tribe could prosecute an Indian for the same acts that constituted crimes in bo ...
'',


Federal

*'' United States v. Rogers'', *''
Ex parte Crow Dog ''Ex parte Crow Dog'', 109 U.S. 556 (1883), is a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States that followed the death of one member of a Native American tribe at the hands of another on reservation land. Crow Dog was a member of th ...
'', *'' National Farmers Union Ins. Cos. v. Crow Tribe'', *''
United States v. Lara ''United States v. Lara'', 541 U.S. 193 (2004), was a United States Supreme Court landmark case which held that both the United States and a Native American (Indian) tribe could prosecute an Indian for the same acts that constituted crimes in bo ...
'',


Over non-Indians

*''
Oliphant v. Suquamish Indian Tribe ''Oliphant v. Suquamish Indian Tribe'', 435 U.S. 191 (1978), is a United States Supreme Court case deciding that Indian tribal courts have no criminal jurisdiction over non-Indians.. The case was decided on March 6, 1978 with a 6–2 majority. Th ...
'', *'' New Mexico v. Mescalero Apache Tribe'', *'' National Farmers Union Ins. Cos. v. Crow Tribe'', *''
Iowa Mutual Insurance Co. v. LaPlante Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...
'', *''
California v. Cabazon Band of Mission Indians ''California v. Cabazon Band of Mission Indians'', 480 U.S. 202 (1987), was a United States Supreme Court case involving the development of Native American gaming. The Supreme Court's decision effectively overturned the existing laws restricting g ...
'', *''
Duro v. Reina ''Duro v. Reina'', 495 U.S. 676 (1990), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court concluded that Indian tribes could not prosecute Indians who were members of other tribes for crimes committed by those nonmember Indians on their re ...
'', *''
Plains Commerce Bank v. Long Family Land and Cattle Co., Inc. ''Plains Commerce Bank v. Long Family Land and Cattle Co., Inc.'', 554 U.S. 316 (2008), is a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States holding that a tribal court had no jurisdiction to hear a case for discrimination against an Indian in ...
'', ___ U.S. ___, 128 S.Ct. 2709 (2008)


State

*'' Washington v. Confederated Bands and Tribes of the Yakima Indian Nation'', *''
White Mountain Apache Tribe v. Bracker ''White Mountain Apache Tribe v. Bracker'', 448 U.S. 136 (1980), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States holding that Arizona, Arizona's taxes that were assessed against a non-Indian contractor that was working exclusively for ...
'', *'' Rice v. Rehner'', *'' Three Affiliated Tribes of Fort Berthold Reservation v. Wold Engineering, P. C.'', *''
Iowa Mutual Insurance Co. v. LaPlante Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...
'', *''
California v. Cabazon Band of Mission Indians ''California v. Cabazon Band of Mission Indians'', 480 U.S. 202 (1987), was a United States Supreme Court case involving the development of Native American gaming. The Supreme Court's decision effectively overturned the existing laws restricting g ...
'',


Liquor

*'' Rice v. Rehner'',


Property rights

*''
Oklahoma Tax Commission v. United States ''Oklahoma Tax Commission v. United States'', 319 U.S. 598 (1943), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that Indian land that Congress has exempted from direct taxation by a state is also exempt from state estate taxes. ...
'', *''
United States v. Southern Ute Tribe or Band of Indians United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...
'', *''
United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians ''United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians'', 448 U.S. 371 (1980), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that: 1) the enactment by Congress of a law allowing the Sioux Nation to pursue a claim against the United States tha ...
'', *'' Rice v. Rehner'', *'' Brendale v. Confederated Yakima Indian Nation'', *'' Oklahoma Tax Comm'n v. Citizen Band of Potawatomi Tribe of Okla.'', *'' Yakima v. Confederated Tribes'', *''
South Dakota v. Bourland ''South Dakota v. Bourland'', 508 U.S. 679 (1993), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that Congress specifically abrogated treaty rights with the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe as to hunting and fishing rights on reservati ...
'', *''
Plains Commerce Bank v. Long Family Land and Cattle Co., Inc. ''Plains Commerce Bank v. Long Family Land and Cattle Co., Inc.'', 554 U.S. 316 (2008), is a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States holding that a tribal court had no jurisdiction to hear a case for discrimination against an Indian in ...
'', ___ U.S. ___, 128 S.Ct. 2709 (2008)


Allotment

*''
Arenas v. United States :''This is a disambiguation page for the name ''Arenas''. For the sporting event venue, see arena; for other meanings of ''arena'', see arena (disambiguation).'' Arenas (meaning ''sands'' in Spanish) may refer to: Persons * Abbygale Arenas (born ...
'', *'' Brendale v. Confederated Yakima Indian Nation'', *'' Yakima v. Confederated Tribes'', *''
Plains Commerce Bank v. Long Family Land and Cattle Co., Inc. ''Plains Commerce Bank v. Long Family Land and Cattle Co., Inc.'', 554 U.S. 316 (2008), is a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States holding that a tribal court had no jurisdiction to hear a case for discrimination against an Indian in ...
'', ___ U.S. ___, 128 S.Ct. 2709 (2008) *'' United States v. Mitchell (1983)'',


Mineral rights

*''
Merrion v. Jicarilla Apache Tribe ''Merrion v. Jicarilla Apache Tribe'', 455 U.S. 130 (1982), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States holding that an Indian tribe has the authority to impose taxes on non-Indians that are conducting business on the reservation as ...
'',


Reservations

*''
United States v. Southern Ute Tribe or Band of Indians United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...
'', *''
McClanahan v. Arizona State Tax Comm'n ''McClanahan v. Arizona State Tax Comm'n'', 411 U.S. 164 (1973), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States holding that Arizona has no jurisdiction to impose a tax on the income of Navajo Indians residing on the Navajo Reservatio ...
'', *''
Oliphant v. Suquamish Indian Tribe ''Oliphant v. Suquamish Indian Tribe'', 435 U.S. 191 (1978), is a United States Supreme Court case deciding that Indian tribal courts have no criminal jurisdiction over non-Indians.. The case was decided on March 6, 1978 with a 6–2 majority. Th ...
'', *'' Washington v. Confederated Bands and Tribes of the Yakima Indian Nation'', *''
Washington v. Confederated Tribes of Colville Reservation Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...
'', *''
White Mountain Apache Tribe v. Bracker ''White Mountain Apache Tribe v. Bracker'', 448 U.S. 136 (1980), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States holding that Arizona, Arizona's taxes that were assessed against a non-Indian contractor that was working exclusively for ...
'', *''
United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians ''United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians'', 448 U.S. 371 (1980), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that: 1) the enactment by Congress of a law allowing the Sioux Nation to pursue a claim against the United States tha ...
'', *''
Merrion v. Jicarilla Apache Tribe ''Merrion v. Jicarilla Apache Tribe'', 455 U.S. 130 (1982), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States holding that an Indian tribe has the authority to impose taxes on non-Indians that are conducting business on the reservation as ...
'', *'' New Mexico v. Mescalero Apache Tribe'', *'' Rice v. Rehner'', *''
Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife v. Klamath Indian Tribe Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...
'', *''
California v. Cabazon Band of Mission Indians ''California v. Cabazon Band of Mission Indians'', 480 U.S. 202 (1987), was a United States Supreme Court case involving the development of Native American gaming. The Supreme Court's decision effectively overturned the existing laws restricting g ...
'', *''
Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians v. Holyfield ''Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians v. Holyfield'', 490 U.S. 30 (1989), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that the Indian Child Welfare Act governed adoptions of Indian children. It ruled that a tribal court had jur ...
'', *'' Brendale v. Confederated Yakima Indian Nation'', *'' Oklahoma Tax Comm'n v. Citizen Band of Potawatomi Tribe of Okla.'', *''
South Dakota v. Bourland ''South Dakota v. Bourland'', 508 U.S. 679 (1993), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that Congress specifically abrogated treaty rights with the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe as to hunting and fishing rights on reservati ...
'', *''
Plains Commerce Bank v. Long Family Land and Cattle Co., Inc. ''Plains Commerce Bank v. Long Family Land and Cattle Co., Inc.'', 554 U.S. 316 (2008), is a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States holding that a tribal court had no jurisdiction to hear a case for discrimination against an Indian in ...
'', ___ U.S. ___, 128 S.Ct. 2709 (2008)


Statutory and treaty interpretation

*''
Ex parte Crow Dog ''Ex parte Crow Dog'', 109 U.S. 556 (1883), is a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States that followed the death of one member of a Native American tribe at the hands of another on reservation land. Crow Dog was a member of th ...
'', *''
Menominee Tribe v. United States The Menominee (; mez, omǣqnomenēwak meaning ''"Menominee People"'', also spelled Menomini, derived from the Ojibwe language word for "Wild Rice People"; known as ''Mamaceqtaw'', "the people", in the Menominee language) are a federally recog ...
'', *''
Bryan v. Itasca County ''Bryan v. Itasca County'', 426 U.S. 373 (1976), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that a state did not have the right to assess a tax on the property of a Indigenous people of the United States, Native American (Ind ...
'', *'' Washington v. Confederated Bands and Tribes of the Yakima Indian Nation'', *''
Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife v. Klamath Indian Tribe Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...
'', *''
South Dakota v. Bourland ''South Dakota v. Bourland'', 508 U.S. 679 (1993), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that Congress specifically abrogated treaty rights with the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe as to hunting and fishing rights on reservati ...
'',


Taxation


State

*''
Oklahoma Tax Commission v. United States ''Oklahoma Tax Commission v. United States'', 319 U.S. 598 (1943), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that Indian land that Congress has exempted from direct taxation by a state is also exempt from state estate taxes. ...
'', *'' Mescalero Apache Tribe v. Jones'', *''
McClanahan v. Arizona State Tax Comm'n ''McClanahan v. Arizona State Tax Comm'n'', 411 U.S. 164 (1973), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States holding that Arizona has no jurisdiction to impose a tax on the income of Navajo Indians residing on the Navajo Reservatio ...
'', *''
Bryan v. Itasca County ''Bryan v. Itasca County'', 426 U.S. 373 (1976), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that a state did not have the right to assess a tax on the property of a Indigenous people of the United States, Native American (Ind ...
'', *''
Washington v. Confederated Tribes of Colville Reservation Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...
'', *''
White Mountain Apache Tribe v. Bracker ''White Mountain Apache Tribe v. Bracker'', 448 U.S. 136 (1980), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States holding that Arizona, Arizona's taxes that were assessed against a non-Indian contractor that was working exclusively for ...
'', *''
Ramah Navajo School Bd., Inc. v. Bureau of Revenue of N.M. ''Ramah Navajo School Board, Inc. v. Bureau of Revenue of New Mexico'', 458 U.S. 832 (1982), is a Supreme Court of the United States, United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that the state was not authorized to impose taxes on a co ...
'', *'' New Mexico v. Mescalero Apache Tribe'', *'' Cotton Petroleum Corp. v. New Mexico'', *'' Oklahoma Tax Comm'n v. Citizen Band of Potawatomi Tribe of Okla.'', *'' Yakima v. Confederated Tribes'', *'' Oklahoma Tax Commission v. Sac & Fox Nation'', *'' Dept. of Taxation and Finance of N.Y. v. Milhelm Attea & Bros., Inc.'', *''
Wagnon v. Prairie Band Potawatomi Indians ''Wagnon v. Prairie Band Potawatomi Indians'', 546 U.S. 95 (2005), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that a state's non-discriminatory fuel tax imposed on off-reservation distributors does not pose an affront to a tri ...
'',


Tribal

*''
Merrion v. Jicarilla Apache Tribe ''Merrion v. Jicarilla Apache Tribe'', 455 U.S. 130 (1982), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States holding that an Indian tribe has the authority to impose taxes on non-Indians that are conducting business on the reservation as ...
'',


Tribal sovereignty

*''
Cherokee Nation v. Georgia ''Cherokee Nation v. Georgia'', 30 U.S. (5 Pet.) 1 (1831), was a United States Supreme Court case. The Cherokee Nation sought a federal injunction against laws passed by the U.S. state of Georgia depriving them of rights within its boundaries, but ...
'', *''
Worcester v. Georgia ''Worcester v. Georgia'', 31 U.S. (6 Pet.) 515 (1832), was a landmark case in which the Supreme Court of the United States, United States Supreme Court Vacated judgment, vacated the conviction of Samuel Worcester and held that the Georgia criminal ...
'', *''
United States v. Kagama ''United States v. Kagama'', 118 U.S. 375 (1886), was a United States Supreme Court case that upheld the constitutionality of the Major Crimes Act of 1885. This Congressional act gave the federal courts jurisdiction in certain Indian-on-Indian ...
'', *''
Oklahoma Tax Commission v. United States ''Oklahoma Tax Commission v. United States'', 319 U.S. 598 (1943), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that Indian land that Congress has exempted from direct taxation by a state is also exempt from state estate taxes. ...
'', *''
Menominee Tribe v. United States The Menominee (; mez, omǣqnomenēwak meaning ''"Menominee People"'', also spelled Menomini, derived from the Ojibwe language word for "Wild Rice People"; known as ''Mamaceqtaw'', "the people", in the Menominee language) are a federally recog ...
'', * ''Morton v. Mancari'', 417 U.S. 535 (1974) *''
Bryan v. Itasca County ''Bryan v. Itasca County'', 426 U.S. 373 (1976), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that a state did not have the right to assess a tax on the property of a Indigenous people of the United States, Native American (Ind ...
'', *''
Oliphant v. Suquamish Indian Tribe ''Oliphant v. Suquamish Indian Tribe'', 435 U.S. 191 (1978), is a United States Supreme Court case deciding that Indian tribal courts have no criminal jurisdiction over non-Indians.. The case was decided on March 6, 1978 with a 6–2 majority. Th ...
'', *'' United States v. Wheeler'', *''
Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez ''Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez'', 436 U.S. 49 (1978), was a landmark case in the area of Outline of United States federal Indian law and policy, federal Indian law involving issues of great importance to the meaning of Tribal sovereignty in the ...
'', *'' Washington v. Confederated Bands and Tribes of the Yakima Indian Nation'', *''
Washington v. Confederated Tribes of Colville Reservation Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...
'', *''
White Mountain Apache Tribe v. Bracker ''White Mountain Apache Tribe v. Bracker'', 448 U.S. 136 (1980), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States holding that Arizona, Arizona's taxes that were assessed against a non-Indian contractor that was working exclusively for ...
'', *''
Merrion v. Jicarilla Apache Tribe ''Merrion v. Jicarilla Apache Tribe'', 455 U.S. 130 (1982), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States holding that an Indian tribe has the authority to impose taxes on non-Indians that are conducting business on the reservation as ...
'', *''
Ramah Navajo School Bd., Inc. v. Bureau of Revenue of N.M. ''Ramah Navajo School Board, Inc. v. Bureau of Revenue of New Mexico'', 458 U.S. 832 (1982), is a Supreme Court of the United States, United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that the state was not authorized to impose taxes on a co ...
'', *'' New Mexico v. Mescalero Apache Tribe'', *'' National Farmers Union Ins. Cos. v. Crow Tribe'', *'' Three Affiliated Tribes of Fort Berthold Reservation v. Wold Engineering, P. C.'', *'' Cotton Petroleum Corp. v. New Mexico'', *'' Brendale v. Confederated Yakima Indian Nation'', *''
Duro v. Reina ''Duro v. Reina'', 495 U.S. 676 (1990), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court concluded that Indian tribes could not prosecute Indians who were members of other tribes for crimes committed by those nonmember Indians on their re ...
'', *'' Oklahoma Tax Comm'n v. Citizen Band of Potawatomi Tribe of Okla.'', *'' Yakima v. Confederated Tribes'', *'' Dept. of Taxation and Finance of N.Y. v. Milhelm Attea & Bros., Inc.'', * ''United States v. Lara'', 541 U.S. 193 (2004) *''
Wagnon v. Prairie Band Potawatomi Indians ''Wagnon v. Prairie Band Potawatomi Indians'', 546 U.S. 95 (2005), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that a state's non-discriminatory fuel tax imposed on off-reservation distributors does not pose an affront to a tri ...
'', *''
Plains Commerce Bank v. Long Family Land and Cattle Co., Inc. ''Plains Commerce Bank v. Long Family Land and Cattle Co., Inc.'', 554 U.S. 316 (2008), is a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States holding that a tribal court had no jurisdiction to hear a case for discrimination against an Indian in ...
'', ___ U.S. ___, 128 S.Ct. 2709 (2008)


Other federal court cases

* ''
Cobell v. Salazar ''Cobell v. Salazar'' (previously ''Cobell v. Kempthorne'' and ''Cobell v. Norton'' and ''Cobell v. Babbitt'') is a class-action lawsuit brought by Elouise Cobell (Blackfeet) and other Native American representatives in 1996 against two departm ...
'' * '' Harjo et al v. Pro Football, Inc.'' * ''
In the Matter of S--- ''In the Matter of S---'', 1 I. & N. Dec. 309 (1942), is a United States Department of Justice, Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) decision holding that a white woman born in Canada married to a Canadian Indian and deemed a member of an Indian ...
'' * ''
Sohappy v. Smith ''Sohappy v. Smith'', 302 F. Supp. 899 (D. Or. 1969), was a federal case heard by the United States District Court for the District of Oregon, decided in 1969 and amended in 1975. It began with fourteen members of the Yakama who sued the U.S. ...
'' * '' Joint Tribal Council of the Passamaquoddy Tribe v. Morton''


Legislation

*
Alaska Native Allotment Act The Alaska Native Allotment Act of 1906, , enacted on May 17, 1906, permitted individual Alaska Natives to acquire title to up to of land in a manner similar to that afforded to Native Americans. The 1906 Allotment Act was repealed in 1971, when ...
*
Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) was signed into law by President Richard Nixon on December 18, 1971, constituting at the time the largest land claims settlement in United States history. ANCSA was intended to resolve long-standing i ...
*
Aleut Restitution Act of 1988 The ''Aleut Restitution Act of 1988'' (also known as the ''Aleutian and Pribilof Islands Restitution Act'') was a reparation settlement passed by the United States Congress in 1988, in response to the internment of Aleut people living in the Aleu ...
*
American Indian Religious Freedom Act The American Indian Religious Freedom Act, Public Law No. 95–341, 92 Stat. 469 (Aug. 11, 1978) (commonly abbreviated to AIRFA), codified at , is a United States federal law, enacted by joint resolution of the Congress in 1978. Prior to the ac ...
*
American Indian Trust Fund Management Reform Act 1994 American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...
*
Burke Act The Burke Act (1906), formally known as the General Allotment Act Amendment of 1906 and also called the Forced Fee Patenting Act, amended the Dawes Act of 1887 under which the communal land held by tribes on the Indian reservations was broken up ...
*
Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 The Indian Citizenship Act of 1924, (, enacted June 2, 1924) was an Act of the United States Congress that granted US citizenship to the indigenous peoples of the United States. While the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution ...
*
Civilization Fund Act The Civilization Fund Act was an Act of Congress, Act passed by the United States Congress on March 3, 1819. The Act encouraged activities of benevolent societies in providing education for Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans ...
*
Curtis Act of 1898 The Curtis Act of 1898 was an amendment to the United States Dawes Act; it resulted in the break-up of tribal governments and communal lands in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) of the Five Civilized Tribes of Indian Territory: the Choctaw, Chickasaw ...
*
Dawes Act The Dawes Act of 1887 (also known as the General Allotment Act or the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887) regulated land rights on tribal territories within the United States. Named after Senator Henry L. Dawes of Massachusetts, it authorized the Pre ...
*
Indian Gaming Regulatory Act The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (, ''et seq.'') is a 1988 United States federal law that establishes the jurisdictional framework that governs Indian gaming. There was no federal gaming structure before this act. The stated purposes of the act ...
*
Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), Pub. L. 101-601, 25 U.S.C. 3001 et seq., 104 Stat. 3048, is a United States federal law enacted on November 16, 1990. The Act requires federal agencies and institutions that ...
*
Hawaiian Homelands A Hawaiian home land is an area held in trust for Native Hawaiians by the state of Hawaii under the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1920. History Upon the 1893 overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom, the idea for "Hawaiian Homelands" was first born. ...
*
House concurrent resolution 108 House concurrent resolution 108 (HCR-108), passed August 1, 1953, declared it to be the sense of Congress that it should be policy of the United States to abolish federal supervision over American Indian tribes as soon as possible and to subjec ...
*
Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990 The Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-644) is a truth-in-advertising law which prohibits misrepresentation in marketing of American Indian or Alaska Native arts and crafts products within the United States. It is illegal to offer or d ...
*
Indian Child Welfare Act The Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA) ((), codified at Indian Child Welfare Act, (, )) is a United States federal law that governs jurisdiction over the removal of American Indian children from their families in custody, foster care and ...
*
Indian Claims Limitations Act The Indian Claims Limitations Act of 1982 (ICLA) is a United States federal statute of limitations that governs some types of claims by Native American tribes and claims by the federal government on behalf of tribes. Previous statutes Previous sta ...
*
Indian Land Claims Settlements Indian Land Claims Settlements are settlements of Native American land claims by the United States Congress, codified in 25 U.S.C. ch. 19. In several instances, these settlements ended live claims of aboriginal title in the United States. The ...
* Indian Land Consolidation Act *
Indian Relocation Act of 1956 The Indian Relocation Act of 1956 (also known as Public Law 959 or the Adult Vocational Training Program) was a United States law intended to create a "a program of vocational training" for Native Americans in the United States. Critics charact ...
*
Indian Removal Act The Indian Removal Act was signed into law on May 28, 1830, by United States President Andrew Jackson. The law, as described by Congress, provided "for an exchange of lands with the Indians residing in any of the states or territories, and for ...
*
Indian Reorganization Act The Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) of June 18, 1934, or the Wheeler–Howard Act, was U.S. federal legislation that dealt with the status of American Indians in the United States. It was the centerpiece of what has been often called the "Indian ...
*
Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975 The Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975 (Public Law 93-638) authorized the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, and some other government agencies to enter into contracts with, a ...
*
The Indian Vaccination Act of 1832 ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
*
Native American Languages Act of 1990 The Native American Languages Act of 1990 is the short cited title for executive order PUBLIC LAW 101-477 enacted by the United States Congress on October 30, 1990. Public Law 101-477 of 1990 gave historical importance as repudiating past polici ...
*
Nonintercourse Act The Nonintercourse Act (also known as the Indian Intercourse Act or the Indian Nonintercourse Act) is the collective name given to six statutes passed by the Congress in 1790, 1793, 1796, 1799, 1802, and 1834 to set Amerindian boundaries of re ...
* Johnson–O'Malley Act * Lacey Act of 1907 *
Major Crimes Act The Major Crimes Act (U.S. Statutes at Large, 23:385)Menominee Restoration Act The ''Menominee Restoration Act'', signed by President of the United States Richard Nixon on December 22, 1973, returned federally recognized sovereignty to the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin. It also restored tribal supervision over property ...
*
Meriam Report The Meriam Report (1928) (official title: ''The Problem of Indian Administration'') was commissioned by the Institute for Government Research (IGR, better known later as the Brookings Institution) and funded by the Rockefeller Foundation. The IGR ap ...
* Mission Indian Act of 1891 *
Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 The Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 (NAHASDA) simplifies and reorganizes the system of providing housing assistance to federally recognized Native American tribes to help improve their housing and other inf ...
*
Nelson Act of 1889 An act for the relief and civilization of the Chippewa Indians in the State of Minnesota (51st-1st-Ex.Doc.247; ), commonly known as the Nelson Act of 1889, was a United States federal law intended to relocate all the Anishinaabe people in Minnesot ...
*
Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act The Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act of 1936 (also known as the Thomas-Rogers Act) is a United States federal law that extended the 1934 Wheeler-Howard or Indian Reorganization Act to include those tribes within the boundaries of the state of Oklahoma. ...
*
Public Law 280 Public Law 280 (, August 15, 1953, codified as , , and ), is a federal law of the United States establishing "a method whereby States may assume jurisdiction over reservation Indians," as stated in '' McClanahan v. Arizona State Tax Commission'' ...
*
Title 25 of the United States Code Title 25 of the United States Code outlines the role of Indians in the United States Code. * – Bureau of Indian Affairs * – Officers of Indian Affairs * – Indian Claims Commission * – Agreements With Indians * – Performance by Unit ...
*
Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010 The Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010 is a law, signed into effect by President Obama, that expands the punitive abilities of tribal courts across the nation. The law allows tribal courts operating in Indian country to increase jail sentences hand ...
*
Western Shoshone Claims Distribution Act of 2004 The Western Shoshone Claims Distribution Act of 2004 established the legal framework for the distribution of the "Western Shoshone Judgement Funds" stemming from docket 326-K before the Indian Claims Commission. It further establishes an educationa ...
* White Mountain Apache Tribe Water Rights Quantification Act of 2009


Executive Orders

* Executive Order 13007, 1996, Indian Sacred Sites
linton Linton may refer to: Places Australia * Linton, Victoria Canada * Linton, Ontario * Linton, Quebec United Kingdom England * Linton, Cambridgeshire * Linton, Derbyshire * Linton (near Bromyard), Herefordshire * Linton (near Ross-on-Wye), Her ...
* Executive Order 13021, 1996, Tribal Colleges and Universities
linton Linton may refer to: Places Australia * Linton, Victoria Canada * Linton, Ontario * Linton, Quebec United Kingdom England * Linton, Cambridgeshire * Linton, Derbyshire * Linton (near Bromyard), Herefordshire * Linton (near Ross-on-Wye), Her ...
* Executive Order 13084, 1998, Consultation and Coordination with Indian Tribal Governments
linton Linton may refer to: Places Australia * Linton, Victoria Canada * Linton, Ontario * Linton, Quebec United Kingdom England * Linton, Cambridgeshire * Linton, Derbyshire * Linton (near Bromyard), Herefordshire * Linton (near Ross-on-Wye), Her ...
* Executive Order 13096, 1998, American Indian and Alaska Native Education
linton Linton may refer to: Places Australia * Linton, Victoria Canada * Linton, Ontario * Linton, Quebec United Kingdom England * Linton, Cambridgeshire * Linton, Derbyshire * Linton (near Bromyard), Herefordshire * Linton (near Ross-on-Wye), Her ...
* Executive Order 13107, 1998, Implementation of Human Rights Treaties
linton Linton may refer to: Places Australia * Linton, Victoria Canada * Linton, Ontario * Linton, Quebec United Kingdom England * Linton, Cambridgeshire * Linton, Derbyshire * Linton (near Bromyard), Herefordshire * Linton (near Ross-on-Wye), Her ...
* Executive Order 13158, 2000, Marine Protected Areas
linton Linton may refer to: Places Australia * Linton, Victoria Canada * Linton, Ontario * Linton, Quebec United Kingdom England * Linton, Cambridgeshire * Linton, Derbyshire * Linton (near Bromyard), Herefordshire * Linton (near Ross-on-Wye), Her ...
* Executive Order 13175, 2000, Consultation and Coordination with Indian Tribal Governments
linton Linton may refer to: Places Australia * Linton, Victoria Canada * Linton, Ontario * Linton, Quebec United Kingdom England * Linton, Cambridgeshire * Linton, Derbyshire * Linton (near Bromyard), Herefordshire * Linton (near Ross-on-Wye), Her ...
*
Executive Order 13270 Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dire ...
, 2002, Tribal College Endorsement W Bush* Executive Order 13336, 2004, American Indian and Alaska Native Education W Bush


Treaties

The federal government was in charge of relations with the Indians, and the procedure was to use the treaty making power of the president and the Senate to make formal arrangements. Over 200 treaties were agreed upon by 1840. Gatlin argues that treaties established a procedure that benefited both parties. The federal government was primarily interested in guaranteeing that Indian lands did not fall into private hands, and that it handled all negotiations with the tribes. These negotiations, says Gatlin, strengthened the tribes sense of unity and leadership. The land sales gave the Indians a steady flow of income, and guarantees of federal financial, medical, and educational aid. Many of the treaties remain in effect and are of special importance regarding federal recognition of tribal status, hunting and fishing rights, rights to protection of sacred properties, rights to water and minerals, and land claims. The federal courts have a long, continuous history of litigation on these issues. The Supreme Court endorsed the procedure, with over 300 decisions making reference to Indian treaties after 1799.


Major treaties

*
Treaty of Brownstown The Treaty of Brownstown was between the United States and the Council of Three Fires ( Chippewa, Ottawa, Potawatomi), Wyandott, and Shawanoese Indian Nations. It was concluded November 25, 1808, at Brownstown in Michigan Territory, and provi ...
, 1808, was between the United States and the
Council of Three Fires The Council of Three Fires (in oj, label=Anishinaabe, Niswi-mishkodewinan, also known as the People of the Three Fires; the Three Fires Confederacy; or the United Nations of Chippewa, Ottawa, and Potawatomi Indians) is a long-standing Anishina ...
( Chippewa,
Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
,
Potawatomi The Potawatomi , also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American people of the western Great Lakes region, upper Mississippi River and Great Plains. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a m ...
), Wyandott, and Shawanoese Indian Nations. *
Treaty of Buffalo Creek The Treaties of Buffalo Creek are a series of treaties, named for the Buffalo River in New York, between the United States and Native American peoples: These include the following: * First Treaty of Buffalo Creek (1788) * Second Treaty of Buff ...
*
Treaty of Canandaigua The Treaty of Canandaigua (or Konondaigua, as spelled in the treaty itself) also known as the Pickering Treaty and the Calico Treaty, is a treaty signed after the American Revolutionary War between the Grand Council of the Six Nations and Preside ...
, 1794, is a treaty signed after the American Revolutionary War between the
Grand Council of the Six Nations The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...
and President George Washington representing the United States of America. *
Treaty of the Cedars The Treaty of the Cedars was concluded on the Fox River, west of what is today the village of Little Chute, Wisconsin, on September 3, 1836. Under the treaty, the Menominee Indian nation ceded to the United States about of land for $700,000. The ...
*
Cherokee treaties The Cherokee have participated in over forty treaties in the past three hundred years. Pre-American Revolution ;Treaty between two Cherokee towns with English traders of Carolina, 1684 : Established a steady trade in deerskins and Indian slaves. ...
*
1821 Treaty of Chicago The Treaty of Chicago may refer to either of two treaties made and signed in the settlement that became Chicago, Illinois between the United States and the Odaawaa (anglicized Ottawa), Ojibwe (anglicized Chippewa), and Bodéwadmi (anglicized P ...
*
1833 Treaty of Chicago The 1833 Treaty of Chicago struck an agreement between the United States government that required the Chippewa Odawa, and Potawatomi tribes cede to the United States government their of land (including reservations) in Illinois, the Wiscon ...
*
Treaty of Colerain The Treaty of Colerain was signed at St. Marys, Georgia in Camden County, Georgia, by Benjamin Hawkins, George Clymer, and Andrew Pickens for the United States and representatives of the Creek Nation, for whom Indian trader Langley Bryant served ...
* Treaty of the Creek Agency (1818) *
Treaty of Cusseta The Treaty of Cusseta was a treaty between the government of the United States and the Creek Nation signed March 24, 1832 (). The treaty ceded all Creek claims east of the Mississippi River to the United States. Origins The Treaty of Cusseta, ...
*
Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek was a treaty which was signed on September 27, 1830, and proclaimed on February 24, 1831, between the Choctaw American Indian tribe and the United States Government. This treaty was the first removal treaty wh ...
*
Treaty of Detroit The Treaty of Detroit was a treaty between the United States and the Ottawa, Chippewa, Wyandot and Potawatomi Native American nations. The treaty was signed in Detroit, Michigan on November 17, 1807, with William Hull, governor of the Michi ...
*
Treaty of Doak's Stand The Treaty of Doak's Stand (7 Stat. 210, also known as Treaty with the Choctaw) was signed on October 18, 1820 (proclaimed on January 8, 1821) between the United States and the Choctaw Indian tribe. Based on the terms of the accord, the Choctaw ...
*
Treaty of Fond du Lac The Treaty of Fond du Lac may refer to either of two treaties made and signed in Duluth, Minnesota between the United States and the Ojibwe (Chippewa) Native American peoples. 1826 Treaty of Fond du Lac The first treaty of Fond du Lac was signed ...
*
Treaty of Fort Adams The Treaty of Fort Adams was signed on December 17, 1801, between the Choctaw (an American Indian tribe) and the United States Government. The treaty ceded about of Choctaw land. The commissioners reported to President Thomas Jefferson that fo ...
*
Fort Bridger Treaty Council of 1868 This Fort Bridger Treaty Council of 1868, was also known as the Great Treaty Council, was a council that developed the Fort Bridger Treaty of 1868 (also Shoshone Bannock Treaty). The Shoshone, also referred to as the Shoshoni or Snake, were the ...
*
Treaty of Fort Clark The Treaty of Fort Clark (also known as the Treaty with the Osage or the Osage Treaty) was signed at Fort Osage (then called Fort Clark) on November 10, 1808, (ratified on April 28, 1810) in which the Osage Nation ceded all the land east of th ...
*
Treaty of Fort Confederation The Treaty of Fort Confederation was signed on October 17, 1802 between the Choctaw (an American Indian tribe) and the United States Government. The treaty ceded about of Choctaw land, including the site of Fort Tombecbe, also known as Fort Con ...
*
Treaty of Fort Finney Fort Finney was a fort built in Oct. 1785 at the mouth of the Great Miami River near the modern city of Cincinnati and named for Major Walter Finney who built the fort. The site was chosen to be midway between Falls of the Ohio and Limestone ( May ...
*
Treaty of Fort Industry The Treaty of Fort Industry was a successor treaty to the Treaty of Greenville, which moved the eastern boundary of Indian lands in northern Ohio from the Tuscarawas River and Cuyahoga River westward to a line 120 miles west of the Pennsylvania bo ...
*
Treaty of Fort Jackson The Treaty of Fort Jackson (also known as the Treaty with the Creeks, 1814) was signed on August 9, 1814 at Fort Jackson near Wetumpka, Alabama following the defeat of the Red Stick (Upper Creek) resistance by United States allied forces at t ...
*
Treaty of Fort Laramie (1851) The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851 was signed on September 17, 1851 between United States treaty commissioners and representatives of the Cheyenne, Sioux, Arapaho, Crow, Assiniboine, Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nations. Also known as Horse Cree ...
*
Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868) The Treaty of Fort Laramie (also the Sioux Treaty of 1868) is an agreement between the United States and the Oglala, Miniconjou, and Brulé bands of Lakota people, Yanktonai Dakota and Arapaho Nation, following the failure of the first F ...
*
Treaty of Fort Meigs The Treaty of Fort Meigs, also called the Treaty of the Maumee Rapids, formally titled, "Treaty with the Wyandots, etc., 1817", was the most significant Indian treaty by the United States in Ohio since the Treaty of Greenville in 1795. It resulte ...
*
Treaty of Fort Pitt The Treaty of Fort Pitt, also known as the Treaty With the Delawares, the Delaware Treaty, or the Fourth Treaty of Pittsburgh, was signed on September 17, 1778, and was the first formal treaty between the new United States of America and any A ...
*
Treaty of Fort St. Stephens The Treaty of Fort St. Stephens or Treaty of Choctaw Trading House was signed between the United States and the Choctaws. The treaty was signed at the Choctaw trading house on October 24, 1816. It ceded of Choctaw land east of the Tombigbee Ri ...
*
Treaty of Fort Stanwix (1784) The Treaty of Fort Stanwix was a treaty finalized on October 22, 1784, between the United States and Native Americans from the six nations of the Iroquois League. It was signed at Fort Stanwix, in present-day Rome, New York, and was the first ...
*
Treaty of Fort Wayne (1803) The Treaty of Fort Wayne was a treaty between the United States and several groups of Native Americans. The treaty was signed on June 7, 1803 and proclaimed December 26, 1803. It more precisely defined the boundaries of the Vincennes tract cede ...
*
Treaty of Fort Wayne (1809) The Treaty of Fort Wayne, sometimes called the Ten O'clock Line Treaty or the Twelve Mile Line Treaty, is an 1809 treaty that obtained 29,719,530 acres of Native American land for the settlers of Illinois and Indiana. The negotiations primarily ...
*
Treaty of Fort Wise The Treaty of Fort Wise of 1861 was a treaty entered into between the United States and six chiefs of the Southern Cheyenne and four of the Southern Arapaho Indian tribes. A significant proportion of Cheyennes opposed this treaty on the grounds th ...
*
Georgia resolutions 1827 The Georgia Resolutions of 1827 were a response to the Cherokee's refusal to cede their territory within the U.S. state of Georgia. The resolutions declared the state's right to title, jurisdiction, and authority over all the land within its borders ...
were a response to the Cherokee’s refusal to cede their territory within the U.S. state of Georgia. *
Treaty of Greenville The Treaty of Greenville, formally titled Treaty with the Wyandots, etc., was a 1795 treaty between the United States and indigenous nations of the Northwest Territory (now Midwestern United States), including the Wyandot and Delaware peoples, ...
*
Treaty of Greenville (1814) The Treaty of Greenville (1814) was called ''A treaty of peace and friendship'' between the United States of America and the tribes of Native Americans called the Wyandots, Delawares, Shawanoese, Senacas and Miamies. It was concluded at Greenvi ...
*
Treaty of Fort Harmar The Treaty of Fort Harmar (1789) was an agreement between the United States government and numerous Native American tribes with claims to the Northwest Territory. History The Treaty of Fort Harmar was signed at Fort Harmar, near present-day M ...
*
Treaty of Hellgate The Treaty of Hellgate was a treaty agreement between the United States and the Bitterroot Salish, Upper Pend d'Oreilles, Pend d'Oreille, and Lower Kutenai tribes. The treaty was signed at Hell Gate, Montana, Hellgate on 16 July 1855. Signatories ...
*
Treaty of Hoe Buckintoopa The Treaty of Hoe Buckintoopa was signed on August 31, 1803 between the Choctaw (an American Indian tribe) and the United States Government. The treaty ceded about of Choctaw land. Terms The preamble begins with, 1. Receive fifteen piec ...
*
Treaty of Holston The Treaty of Holston (or Treaty of the Holston) was a treaty between the United States government and the Cherokee signed on July 2, 1791, and proclaimed on February 7, 1792. It was negotiated and signed by William Blount, governor of the South ...
*
Treaty of Hopewell Three agreements, each known as the Treaty of Hopewell, were signed between representatives of the Congress of the United States and the Cherokee, Choctaw, and Chickasaw peoples, were negotiated and signed at the Hopewell plantation in South Caro ...
*
Treaty of Indian Springs (1825) The Treaty of Indian Springs, also known as the Second Treaty of Indian Springs and the Treaty with the Creeks, is a treaty concluded between the Muscogee and the United States on February 12, 1825 at what is now the Indian Springs Hotel Museum ...
*
Treaty of La Pointe The Treaty of La Pointe may refer to either of two treaty, treaties made and signed in La Pointe, Wisconsin between the United States and the Ojibwe (Chippewa) Native Americans in the United States, Native American peoples. In addition, the Isle R ...
, may refer to either of two treaties made and signed in
La Pointe, Wisconsin La Pointe is an unincorporated community in the town of La Pointe, Ashland County, Wisconsin, United States. It is on the western shore of Madeline Island, the largest of the Apostle Islands. Downtown La Pointe is adjacent to the Madeline I ...
between the United States and the
Ojibwe The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...
(Chippewa) Native American peoples. In addition, the Isle Royale Agreement, an adhesion to the first Treaty of La Pointe, was made at La Pointe. *
Treaty of Lewistown On August 3, 1829, members of the Shawnee Indians and the Seneca Indians signed the Treaty of Lewistown with the United States. In this treaty, Senecas and Shawnees living at Lewistown, Ohio, relinquished their claim to the land and joined the res ...
*
List of Choctaw treaties List of Choctaw Treaties is a comprehensive chronological list of historic agreements that directly or indirectly affected the Choctaw people, a Native American tribe, with other nations. Choctaw land was systematically obtained through treat ...
*
Little Arkansas Treaty The Little Arkansas Treaty was a set of treaties signed between the United States of America and the Kiowa, Comanche, Plains Apache, Southern Cheyenne, and Southern Arapaho at Little Arkansas River, Kansas in October 1865. On October 14 and 18, ...
*
Fort Martin Scott Treaty The Fort Martin Scott Treaty of 1850 was an unratified treaty between the United States government and the Comanche, Caddo, Quapaw, Tawakoni, Lipan Apache, and Waco tribes in Texas. The treaty was signed in San Saba County, Texas, but named afte ...
*
Treaty of Fort McIntosh The Treaty of Fort McIntosh was a treaty between the United States government and representatives of the Wyandotte, Delaware, Chippewa and Ottawa nations of Native Americans. The treaty was signed at Fort McIntosh (present Beaver, Pennsylvania) ...
*
Treaty of Medicine Creek The Treaty of Medicine Creek was an 1854 treaty between the United States, and nine tribes and bands of Indians, occupying the lands lying around the head of Puget Sound, Washington, and the adjacent inlets. The tribes listed on the Treaty of Medic ...
*
Medicine Lodge Treaty The Medicine Lodge Treaty is the overall name for three treaties signed near Medicine Lodge, Kansas, between the Federal government of the United States and southern Plains Indian tribes in October 1867, intended to bring peace to the area by rel ...
*
Treaty of Mendota The Treaty of Mendota was signed in Mendota, Minnesota on August 5, 1851 between the United States federal government and the Mdewakanton and Wahpekute Dakota people of Minnesota. The agreement was signed near Pilot Knob on the south bank of the ...
*
Treaty of Moultrie Creek The Treaty of Moultrie Creek was an agreement signed in 1823 between the government of the United States and the chiefs of several groups and bands of Indians living in the present-day state of Florida. The treaty established a reservation in t ...
*
Treaty of Mount Dexter The Treaty of Mount Dexter was signed between the United States and the Choctaws. The treaty was signed November 16, 1805. The area ceded was from the Natchez District to the Tombigbee Alabama River watershed, mostly in present-day Mississipp ...
* Native American treaties *
Treaty of New Echota The Treaty of New Echota was a treaty signed on December 29, 1835, in New Echota, Georgia, by officials of the United States government and representatives of a minority Cherokee political faction, the Treaty Party. The treaty established terms ...
*
Treaty of New York (1790) The Treaty of New York was a treaty signed in 1790 between leaders of the Muscogee and U.S. Secretary of War Henry Knox, who served in the presidential administration of George Washington. A failed 1789 attempt at a treaty between the United S ...
, between the U.S. Government and the Creek Indians. *
Treaty of New York (1796) The Treaty of New York (1796) was a treaty signed on May 31, 1796, after negotiations in the City of New York between the United States and the Seven Nations of Canada. Under it, the Native Americans in question gave up, for compensation, all claim ...
, between New York State and the Seven Nations of Canada. *
Treaty of Old Crossing By the Treaty of Old Crossing (1863) and the Treaty of Old Crossing (1864), the Pembina and Red Lake bands of the Ojibwe, then known as Chippewa Indians, purportedly ceded to the United States all of their rights to the Red River Valley. On the ...
*
Osage Treaty (1825) The Osage Treaty (also known as the Treaty with the Osage) was signed in St. Louis, MO, on June 2, 1825 between William Clark on behalf of the United States and members of the Osage Nation. The accord contained fourteen articles. Based on the most ...
*
Treaty of Payne's Landing The Treaty of Payne's Landing (Treaty with the Seminole, 1832) was an agreement signed on 9 May 1832 between the government of the United States and several chiefs of the Seminole Indians in the Territory of Florida, before it acquired statehood. ...
*
Treaty of Point Elliott The Treaty of Point Elliott of 1855, or the Point Elliott Treaty,—also known as Treaty of Point Elliot (with one ''t'') / Point Elliott Treaty—is the lands settlement treaty between the United States government and the Native American tribes ...
*
Treaties of Portage des Sioux The Treaties of Portage des Sioux were a series of treaties at Portage des Sioux, Missouri in 1815 that officially were supposed to mark the end of conflicts between the United States and Native Americans at the conclusion of the War of 1812. A ...
*
List of treaties between the Potawatomi and the United States During the first half of the 19th century, several treaties were concluded between the United States of America and the Native American tribe of the Potawatomi. These treaties concerned the cession of lands by the tribe, and were part of a la ...
*
Treaty of St. Joseph {{Short description, 1827 treaty between the United States and Potawatomi ''Note: There are multiple treaties referred to as Treaty with the Potawatomi. See Treaty with the Potawatomi for others.'' The Treaty of St. Joseph (formally titled ''A tre ...
*
First Treaty of Prairie du Chien The Treaty of Prairie du Chien may refer to any of several treaties made and signed in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin between the United States, representatives from the Sioux, Sac and Fox, Menominee, Ioway, Winnebago and the Anishinaabeg ( Chippew ...
*
Second Treaty of Prairie du Chien The Treaty of Prairie du Chien may refer to any of several treaties made and signed in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin between the United States, representatives from the Sioux, Sac and Fox, Menominee, Ioway, Winnebago and the Anishinaabeg ( Chippew ...
*
Third Treaty of Prairie du Chien The Treaty of Prairie du Chien may refer to any of several treaties made and signed in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin between the United States, representatives from the Sioux, Sac and Fox, Menominee, Ioway, Winnebago and the Anishinaabeg ( Chippew ...
*
Fourth Treaty of Prairie du Chien The fourth Treaty of Prairie du Chien was negotiated between the United States and the Sac and Fox, the Mdewakanton, Wahpekute and Sisseton Sioux, Omaha, Ioway, Otoe and Missouria tribes. The treaty was signed on July 15, 1830, with William Cla ...
*
Quinault Treaty The Quinault Treaty (also known as the Quinault River Treaty and the Treaty of Olympia) was a treaty agreement between the United States and the Native American Quinault and Quileute tribes located in the western Olympic Peninsula north of Grays ...
*
Treaty of Saginaw The Treaty of Saginaw, also known as the Treaty with the Chippewa, was made between Gen. Lewis Cass and Chief Mash Kee Yosh, Chief John Okemos, Chief Wasso and other Native American tribes of the Great Lakes region (principally the Ojibwe, bu ...
*
Treaty of St. Louis (1804) The Treaty of St. Louis is the name of a series of treaties signed between the United States and various Native American tribes from 1804 through 1824. The fourteen treaties were all signed in the St. Louis, Missouri area. The Treaty of St. ...
*
Treaty of St. Louis (1816) The Treaty of St. Louis is the name of a series of treaties signed between the United States and various Native American tribes from 1804 through 1824. The fourteen treaties were all signed in the St. Louis, Missouri area. The Treaty of St. ...
* Treaty of St. Louis (1818) *
Treaty of St. Louis (1825) The Treaty of St. Louis is the name of a series of treaties signed between the United States and various Native American tribes from 1804 through 1824. The fourteen treaties were all signed in the St. Louis, Missouri area. The Treaty of St. Loui ...
*
Treaty of St. Mary's The Treaty of St. Mary's may refer to one of six treaties concluded in fall of 1818 between the United States and Natives of central Indiana regarding purchase of Native land. The treaties were *Treaty with the Wyandot, etc. *Treaty with the Wy ...
*
Treaty of St. Peters Treaty of St. Peters may be one of two treaties conducted between the United States and Native American peoples, conducted at the confluence of the Minnesota River (then called "St. Peters River") with the Mississippi River, in what today is Me ...
*
Treaty of Sycamore Shoals A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations, individuals, business entities, and other legal perso ...
*
Treaty of Tellico The Treaty With The Cherokee, 1798, also known as the First Treaty of Tellico, was signed on October 2, 1798, in the Overhill Cherokee settlement of Great Tellico near Tellico Blockhouse in Tennessee. This treaty served as an addendum to the Tre ...
*
Treaty of Big Tree The Treaty of Big Tree was a formal treaty signed in 1797 between the Seneca Nation and the United States, in which the Seneca relinquished their rights to nearly all of their traditional homeland in New York State—nearly 3.5 million acres. In ...
*
Treaty of Bird's Fort The Treaty of Bird's Fort, or Bird's Fort Treaty was a peace treaty between the Republic of Texas and some of the Indian tribes of Texas and Oklahoma, signed on September 29, 1843. The treaty was intended to end years of hostilities and warfare be ...
*
Treaty of Grouseland The Treaty of Grouseland was an agreement negotiated by Governor William Henry Harrison of the Indiana Territory on behalf of the government of the United States of America with Native American leaders, including Little Turtle and Buckongahelas, ...
*
Treaty of Mississinewas The Treaty of Mississinewas or the Treaty of Mississinewa also called Treaty of the Wabash is an 1826 treaty between the United States and the Miami and Potawatomi Tribes regarding purchase of Indian lands in Indiana and Michigan. The signing was ...
*
Treaty of Tippecanoe The Treaty of Tippecanoe was an agreement between the United States government and Native American Potawatomi tribes in Indiana on October 26, 1832. Treaty On October 26, 1832, the United States government entered negotiations with the Native ...
*
Treaty of Traverse des Sioux The Treaty of Traverse des Sioux () was signed on July 23, 1851, at Traverse des Sioux in Minnesota Territory between the United States government and the Upper Dakota Sioux bands. In this land cession treaty, the Sisseton and Wahpeton Dakota ban ...
*
Treaty of Vincennes The Treaty of Vincennes is the name of two separate treaties. One was an agreement between the United States of America and the Miami and their allies, the Wea tribes and the Shawnee, and was signed on June 6, 1803. The purpose of the treaty w ...
*
Treaty of Washington City The Treaty of Washington City was a treaty signed on January 20, 1825 (proclaimed on February 19, 1825) between the Choctaw (an American Indian tribe) and the United States Government. Overview Apuckshunubbee, Pushmataha, and Mosholatubbee, t ...
*
Treaty of Washington, with Menominee (1831) The ''Treaty of Washington (1831)'' was a treaty between the Menominee (an American Indian tribe) and the United States Government. The treaty was initially made and signed on February 8, 1831 in Washington, D.C. In the treaty, the Menominee cede ...
*
Treaty with the Kalapuya, etc. The Treaty with the Kalapuya, etc., also known as the Kalapuya Treaty or the Treaty of Dayton, was an 1855 treaty between the United States and the bands of the Kalapuya tribe, the Molala tribe, the Clackamas, and several others in the Oregon Te ...
*
Walla Walla Council (1855) The Walla Walla Council (1855) was a meeting in the Pacific Northwest between the United States and sovereign tribal nations of the Cayuse, Nez Perce, Umatilla, Walla Walla, and Yakama. The council occurred on May 29 – June 11; ...
*
Treaty of Wapakoneta {{Short description, 1831 land cession by the Shawnee tribe to the US in present-day Wapakoneta, Ohio The Treaty of Wapakoneta was signed on August 8, 1831. Remnants of the Shawnee Native American tribe in Wapakoneta were forced to relinquish claim ...
*
Treaty of Washington (1826) The 1826 Treaty of Washington was a treaty between the United States and the Creek Confederacy, led by Opothleyahola. The Creek National Council ceded much of their territory bordering Georgia to the United States. The Creek Confederacy was a co ...
*
Treaty of Washington (1836) {{short description, 1836 treaty between the United States, the Ottawa, and the Chippewa The Treaty of Washington is a treaty between the United States and representatives of the Ottawa and Chippewa nations of Native Americans. With this treaty, ...
*
Treaty of Washington (1855) The 1855 Treaty of Washington may refer to any of the four treaties signed between the United States and various Native American governments. Treaty with the Wyandot Treaty of Washington also known as the Treaty with the Wyandot () was a treaty c ...
*
Treaty of Watertown The Treaty of Watertown, the first foreign treaty concluded by the United States of America after the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, was signed on July 19, 1776, in the Edmund Fowle House in the town of Watertown, Massachusetts Bay. ...
, 1776, established a military alliance between the United States and the St. John's and
Mi'kmaq The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Miꞌkmaw'' or ''Miꞌgmaw''; ; ) are a First Nations people of the Northeastern Woodlands, indigenous to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec as well as the northe ...
First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...
in
Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...
against
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
during the
American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
. *
Yankton Treaty The Yankton Treaty was a treaty signed in 1858 between the United States government and the Yankton Sioux (Nakota) Native American tribe, ceding most of eastern South Dakota (11 million acres) to the United States government. The treaty was signe ...


Notable people

The following individuals have played an important role in the evolution of Federal Indian Law and Policy through activism, literature and other methods. *
Hank Adams Henry Lyle Adams (May 16, 1943 – December 21, 2020, Assiniboine-Sioux) was an American Native rights activist known as a successful strategist, tactician, and negotiator. He was instrumental in resolving several key conflicts between Native Am ...
( Fort Peck Assiniboine-Sioux), Native American rights activist *
James Anaya Stephen James Anaya is an American lawyer and the 16th Dean of the University of Colorado Boulder Law School. He was formerly the James J. Lenoir Professor of Human Rights Law and Policy at the University of Arizona's James E. Rogers College of La ...
is the
American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...
James J. Lenoir Professor of Human Rights Law and Policy at the
University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...
's
James E. Rogers College of Law University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law is the law school at the University of Arizona located in Tucson, Arizona and was the first law school founded in the State of Arizona, opening its doors in 1915. Also known as University of Ar ...
. *
Clyde Bellecourt Clyde Howard Bellecourt (May 8, 1936 – January 11, 2022) was a Native American civil rights organizer. His Ojibwe name is ''Nee-gon-we-way-we-dun'', which means "Thunder Before the Storm". He founded the American Indian Movement (AIM) in Minn ...
(
White Earth Ojibwe The White Earth Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, also called the White Earth Nation ( oj, Gaa-waabaabiganikaag Anishinaabeg, "People from where there is an abundance of white clay"), is a federally recognized Native American band located ...
), co-founder of
American Indian Movement The American Indian Movement (AIM) is a Native American grassroots movement which was founded in Minneapolis, Minnesota in July 1968, initially centered in urban areas in order to address systemic issues of poverty, discrimination, and police ...
*
Vernon Bellecourt Vernon Bellecourt (WaBun-Inini) (October 17, 1931 – October 13, 2007) was a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe (located in Minnesota), a Native American rights activist, and a leader in the American Indian Movement (AIM). In the Ojibwe la ...
(
White Earth Ojibwe The White Earth Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, also called the White Earth Nation ( oj, Gaa-waabaabiganikaag Anishinaabeg, "People from where there is an abundance of white clay"), is a federally recognized Native American band located ...
), co-founder of American Indian Movement *
Mary Brave Bird Mary Brave Bird, also known as Mary Brave Woman Olguin and Mary Crow Dog (September 26, 1954 – February 14, 2013) was a Sicangu Lakota writer and activist who was a member of the American Indian Movement during the 1970s and participated in some ...
(
Brulé Lakota The Brulé are one of the seven branches or bands (sometimes called "sub-tribes") of the Teton (Titonwan) Lakota American Indian people. They are known as Sičhą́ǧu Oyáte (in Lakȟóta) —Sicangu Oyate—, ''Sicangu Lakota, o''r "Burnt T ...
), author and activist *
Ed Castillo Edward D. Castillo, of the Luiseño- Cahuilla tribes, is a Native American activist who participated in the American Indian occupation of Alcatraz in 1969. Former professor and director of Native American Studies at the Sonoma State University in ...
(
Luiseño The Luiseño or Payómkawichum are an indigenous people of California who, at the time of the first contacts with the Spanish in the 16th century, inhabited the coastal area of southern California, ranging from the present-day southern part of L ...
-
Cahuilla The Cahuilla , also known as ʔívil̃uqaletem or Ivilyuqaletem, are a Native American people of the various tribes of the Cahuilla Nation, living in the inland areas of southern California.Ward Churchill Ward LeRoy Churchill (born 1947) is an American author and political activist. He was a professor of ethnic studies at the University of Colorado Boulder from 1990 until 2007.
, American scholar, author, and political activist. *
Felix S. Cohen Felix Solomon Cohen (July 3, 1907 – October 19, 1953) was an American lawyer and scholar who made a lasting mark on legal philosophy and fundamentally shaped federal Indian law and policy. Biography Felix S. Cohen was born in Manhattan, New Y ...
, American lawyer and scholar who made a lasting mark on legal philosophy and fundamentally shaped federal Indian law and policy. * John Collier, American social reformer and Native American advocate. *
Lyda Conley Eliza Burton "Lyda" Conley ( – 1946) was a Wyandot-American lawyer of Native American and European descent, the first woman admitted to the Kansas Bar Association. She was notable for her campaign to prevent the sale and development of the ...
(
Wyandot Wyandot may refer to: Native American ethnography * Wyandot people, also known as the Huron * Wyandot language * Wyandot religion Places * Wyandot, Ohio, an unincorporated community * Wyandot County, Ohio * Camp Wyandot, a Camp Fire Boys and ...
, lawyer and the first woman admitted to the
Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...
bar, who fought to retain tribal control of the
Wyandot National Burying Ground The Huron Indian Cemetery in Kansas City, Kansas, also known as Huron Park Cemetery, is now formally known as the Wyandot National Burying Ground. It was established circa 1843, soon after the Wyandot had arrived following removal from Ohio. T ...
*
Elizabeth Cook-Lynn Elizabeth Cook-Lynn (born "Elizabeth Irving", Crow Creek Sioux, in 1930) is an editor, essayist, poet, and novelist. She is considered to be outspoken in her views about Native American politics, particularly in regards to tribal sovereignty. Sh ...
( Crow Creek Lakota), editor, essayist, poet, novelist, and academic. *
Lucy Covington Lucy Friedlander Covington (November 24, 1910 – September 20, 1982) was a Native American tribal leader and political activist. She was a member of the Colville tribe which has a reservation in north-eastern Washington state. Covington was ...
( Colville), activist for Native American
emancipation Emancipation generally means to free a person from a previous restraint or legal disability. More broadly, it is also used for efforts to procure economic and social rights, political rights or equality, often for a specifically disenfranchis ...
. *
Mary Dann and Carrie Dann The Dann Sisters, Mary Dann (1923–2005) and Carrie Dann (1932–2021), were Western Shoshone elders who were spiritual leaders, ranchers, and cultural, spiritual rights and land rights activists. They challenged the federal government over uses ...
(
Western Shoshone Western Shoshone comprise several Shoshone tribes that are indigenous to the Great Basin and have lands identified in the Treaty of Ruby Valley 1863. They resided in Idaho, Nevada, California, and Utah. The tribes are very closely related cultural ...
) were spiritual leaders, ranchers, and cultural, spiritual rights and
land rights Land law is the form of law that deals with the rights to use, alienate, or exclude others from land. In many jurisdictions, these kinds of property are referred to as real estate or real property, as distinct from personal property. Land use ...
activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...
s. *
Joe DeLaCruz Joe DeLaCruz (Joseph B. DeLaCruz, July 16, 1937 – April 16, 2000) was a Native American leader in Washington, U.S., president for 22 years of the Quinault Tribe.Ross AndersonQuinault Indian leader Joe DeLaCruz dies ''Seattle Times'', 2000-04-18. ...
(
Quinault Quinault may refer to: * Quinault people, an Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast **Quinault Indian Nation, a federally recognized tribe **Quinault language, their language People * Quinault family of actors, including * Jean-Baptis ...
), Native American leader in
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...
, U.S., president for 22 years of the
Quinault Tribe of the Quinault Reservation The Quinault Indian Nation ( or ; QIN), formerly known as the Quinault Tribe of the Quinault Reservation, is a federally recognized tribe of Quinault, Queets, Quileute, Hoh, Chehalis, Chinook, and Cowlitz peoples.Vine Deloria, Jr. (
Yankton Dakota The Dakota (pronounced , Dakota language: ''Dakȟóta/Dakhóta'') are a Native American tribe and First Nations band government in North America. They compose two of the three main subcultures of the Sioux people, and are typically divided in ...
- Standing Rock Nakota, 1993–2005) was an American Indian author, theologian, historian, and activist. *
Deskaheh Levi General (March 15, 1873 – June 27, 1925), commonly known as Deskaheh, was a Haudenosaunee hereditary chief and appointed speaker noted for his persistent efforts to get recognition for his people. He is most famous for bringing Iroquois con ...
(
Cayuga Cayuga often refers to: * Cayuga people, a native tribe to North America, part of the Iroquois Confederacy * Cayuga language, the language of the Cayuga Cayuga may also refer to: Places Canada * Cayuga, Ontario United States * Cayuga, Illinois ...
, 1873–1925),
Haudenosaunee The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian Peoples, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Indigenous confederations in North America, confederacy of First Nations in Canada, First Natio ...
statesman noted for his persistent efforts to get recognition for his people. * John EchoHawk (
Pawnee Pawnee initially refers to a Native American people and its language: * Pawnee people * Pawnee language Pawnee is also the name of several places in the United States: * Pawnee, Illinois * Pawnee, Kansas * Pawnee, Missouri * Pawnee City, Nebraska * ...
), Native American attorney, founder of the
Native American Rights Fund The Native American Rights Fund (NARF) is a non-profit organization that uses existing laws and treaties to ensure that U.S. state governments and the U.S. federal government live up to their legal obligations. NARF also "provides legal representa ...
, and a leading member of the
Native American self-determination Native American self-determination refers to the social movements, legislation and beliefs by which the Native American tribes in the United States exercise self-governance and decision making on issues that affect their own people. Conceptua ...
movement. *
Larry EchoHawk Larry J. Echo Hawk (born August 2, 1948) is an American attorney, legal scholar, and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, Echo Hawk served under U.S. President Barack Obama as the United States Assistant Secretary of the Interior for In ...
(
Pawnee Pawnee initially refers to a Native American people and its language: * Pawnee people * Pawnee language Pawnee is also the name of several places in the United States: * Pawnee, Illinois * Pawnee, Kansas * Pawnee, Missouri * Pawnee City, Nebraska * ...
), head of the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs, Attorney General of Idaho from 1991 to 1995. *
Adam Fortunate Eagle Adam Fortunate Eagle L.H.D. (born Adam Nordwall), hereditary member of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians, is a Native American activist and was the principal organizer of the 1969–1971 Occupation of Alcatraz by "Indians of All Tribes". Ea ...
(
Red Lake Ojibwe The Red Lake Indian Reservation (Ojibwe: ''Miskwaagamiiwi-zaaga'iganing'') covers in parts of nine counties in northwestern Minnesota, United States. It is made up of numerous holdings but the largest section is an area about Red Lake (Minne ...
), Native American activist and was the principal organizer of the 1969-71 occupation of
Alcatraz Island Alcatraz Island () is a small island in San Francisco Bay, offshore from San Francisco, California, United States. The island was developed in the mid-19th century with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fortification, and a military pris ...
by "Indians of All Tribes." *
Kalyn Free Kalyn Free is an American attorney, former political candidate, and a tribal citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. Early legal and political career Free was born in Red Oak, Oklahoma. Free is a graduate of Red Oak High School, Southeastern ...
(
Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma The Choctaw Nation (Choctaw: ''Chahta Okla'') is a Native American territory covering about , occupying portions of southeastern Oklahoma in the United States. The Choctaw Nation is the third-largest federally recognized tribe in the United S ...
), American attorney and former political candidate *
Suzan Shown Harjo Suzan Shown Harjo (born June 2, 1945) (Cheyenne and Hodulgee Muscogee) is an advocate for Native American rights. She is a poet, writer, lecturer, curator, and policy advocate who has helped Native peoples recover more than one million acres (4, ...
(
Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enroll ...
–Hodulgee
Muscogee The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language), are a group of related indigenous (Native American) peoples of the Southeastern WoodlandsLaDonna Harris LaDonna Vita Tabbytite Harris (born February 26, 1931) is a Comanche Native American social activist and politician from Oklahoma.Fluharty, SterlingHarris, LaDonna Vita Tabbytite profile 'mOklahoma Historical Society Encyclopedia of Oklahoma His ...
(
Comanche The Comanche or Nʉmʉnʉʉ ( com, Nʉmʉnʉʉ, "the people") are a Native American tribe from the Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the federally recognized Comanche Nation, headquartered in La ...
), activist, founder of Americans for Indian Opportunity, and US vice-presidential candidate.Fluharty, Sterling
Harris, LaDonna Vita Tabbytite (1931-)."
''Oklahoma Historical Society's Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture.'' (retrieved 16 Sept 2010)
*
Thomasina Jordan Thomasina Elizabeth Jordan (Red Hawk Woman) (? – 1999) was an American Indian activist who became the first American Indian to serve in the United States Electoral College in 1988. Jordan received bachelor's and master's degrees in fine arts a ...
( Wampanoag Nation), fought for the federal recognition of Virginian Indian tribes and served as chairwoman of the Virginia Council on Indians. * Ronnie Lupe (
White Mountain Apache The Fort Apache Indian Reservation is an Indian reservation on the border of New Mexico and Arizona, United States, encompassing parts of Navajo, Gila, and Apache counties. It is home to the federally recognized White Mountain Apache Tribe of th ...
), chairman of the White Mountain Apache Tribe,
land Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of the planet Earth that is not submerged by the ocean or other bodies of water. It makes up 29% of Earth's surface and includes the continents and various islan ...
and
water right Water right in water law refers to the right of a user to use water from a water source, e.g., a river, stream, pond or source of groundwater. In areas with plentiful water and few users, such systems are generally not complicated or contentious ...
s,
endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inv ...
, and
tribal 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. Originally, the U.S. federal government recognized American Indian trib ...
activist *
Oren Lyons Oren R. Lyons Jr. (born 1930, Seneca) is a Native American Faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan. The Seneca are one of the Six Nations of the historic Haudenosaunee Confederacy.Seneca Seneca may refer to: People and language * Seneca (name), a list of people with either the given name or surname * Seneca people, one of the six Iroquois tribes of North America ** Seneca language, the language of the Seneca people Places Extrat ...
-
Onondaga Onondaga may refer to: Native American/First Nations * Onondaga people, a Native American/First Nations people and one of the five founding nations of the Iroquois League * Onondaga (village), Onondaga settlement and traditional Iroquois capita ...
), faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan of the Iroquois Confederacy, Traditional Circle of Indian Elders and Youth, negotiator with national-states on behalf of indigenous nations. *
Janet McCloud Janet McCloud (also known as Yet-Si-Blue; March 30, 1934 – November 25, 2003) was a prominent Native American and indigenous rights activist. Her activism helped lead to the 1974 Boldt Decision, for which she was dubbed "the Rosa Parks of th ...
(
Tulalip The Tulalip Tribes of Washington (, lut, dxʷlilap), formerly known as the Tulalip Tribes of the Tulalip Reservation, is a federally recognized tribe of Duwamish, Snohomish, Snoqualmie, Skagit, Suiattle, Samish, and Stillaguamish people. The ...
), cofounder of
Women of All Red Nations Women of All Red Nations (WARN) was a Native American women's organization. It was established in 1974 by Lorelei DeCora Means, Madonna Thunderhawk, Phyllis Young, Janet McCloud, Marie Sanchez and others. WARN included more than 300 women from ...
(WARN) and Indigenous Women's Network, advocate for fishing and other treaty rights *
D'Arcy McNickle William D'Arcy McNickle (January 14, 1904 – October 10, 1977) (Salish Kootenai) was a writer, Native American activist, college professor and administrator, and anthropologist. Of Irish and Cree- Métis descent, he later enrolled in the Salis ...
( Salish-Kootenai, 1904–1977), educational reformer, instrumental in drafting the "Declaration of Indian Purpose" for the 1961 American Indian Chicago Conference, co-founder of the National Congress of American Indians *
Wilma Mankiller Wilma Pearl Mankiller ( chr, ᎠᏥᎳᏍᎩ ᎠᏍᎦᏯᏗᎯ, Atsilasgi Asgayadihi; November 18, 1945April 6, 2010) was a Native American ( Cherokee Nation) activist, social worker, community developer and the first woman elected to serve ...
(
Cherokee Nation The Cherokee Nation (Cherokee: ᏣᎳᎩᎯ ᎠᏰᎵ ''Tsalagihi Ayeli'' or ᏣᎳᎩᏰᎵ ''Tsalagiyehli''), also known as the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, is the largest of three Cherokee federally recognized tribes in the United States. It ...
), community organizer, the first female Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation. * Tina Manning ( Duck Valley Shoshone-Paiute, d. 1979), water rights activist and wife of John Trudell *
Russell Means Russell Charles Means (November 10, 1939 – October 22, 2012) was an Oglala Lakota activist for the rights of Native Americans, libertarian political activist, actor, musician, and writer. He became a prominent member of the American Ind ...
(
Oglala Lakota The Oglala (pronounced , meaning "to scatter one's own" in Lakota language) are one of the seven subtribes of the Lakota people who, along with the Dakota people, Dakota, make up the Sioux, Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (Seven Council Fires). A majority ...
, b. 1939), member of AIM, actor *
Carlos Montezuma Carlos Montezuma or Wassaja (c. 1866 – January 31, 1923) was a Yavapai- Apache Native American, activist and a founding member of the Society of American Indians. His birth name, Wassaja, means "Signaling" or "Beckoning" in his native tongue. W ...
(
Yavapai The Yavapai are a Native American tribe in Arizona. Historically, the Yavapai – literally “people of the sun” (from ''Enyaava'' “sun” + ''Paay'' “people”) – were divided into four geographical bands who identified as separate, i ...
-
Apache The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño an ...
), founding member of the Society of American Indians and outspoken opponent of the BIA *
Richard Oakes (activist) Richard Oakes (May 22, 1942 – September 20, 1972) was a Mohawk Native American activist. He spurred Native American studies in university curricula and is credited for helping to change US federal government Indian termination policy polici ...
, Mohawk Native American activist who promoted the fundamental idea that Native peoples have a right to sovereignty, justice, respect and control over their own destinies. *
William Paul (attorney) William Lewis Paul (May 7, 1885 – March 4, 1977) was an American attorney, legislator, and political activist from the Tlingit people, Tlingit Nation in Southeast Alaska. He was known as a leader in the Alaska Native Brotherhood, and became th ...
, American attorney, legislator, and political activist from the Tlingit nation of southeastern Alaska. *
Leonard Peltier Leonard Peltier (born September 12, 1944) is a Native American activist and militant member of the American Indian Movement (AIM) who, following a controversial trial, was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of two Fed ...
, activist and member of the American Indian Movement (AIM). *
Simon Pokagon Simon Pokagon ( 1830- January 28, 1899) was a member of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, an author, and a Native American advocate. He was born near Bertrand in southwest Michigan Territory and died on January 28, 1899 in Hartford, Michig ...
, member of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, author, and Native American advocate. *
Robert Robideau Robert Eugene Robideau (November 11, 1946 – February 17, 2009) was an American activist who was acquitted in the 1975 shooting deaths of two FBI agents in South Dakota. Early years Robideau was born the second of 12 children in Portland, Or ...
, American Indian activist. *
Katherine Siva Saubel Katherine Siva Saubel (March 7, 1920 – November 1, 2011) was a Native American scholar, educator, tribal leader, author, and activist committed to preserving her Cahuilla history, culture and language. Her efforts focused on preserving the lan ...
, Native American scholar, educator, tribal leader, author, and activist committed to preserving
Cahuilla The Cahuilla , also known as ʔívil̃uqaletem or Ivilyuqaletem, are a Native American people of the various tribes of the Cahuilla Nation, living in the inland areas of southern California.Redbird Smith Redbird Smith (born ''To-Juwah Sequanitah'', Cherokee) (1850–1918) was a traditionalist and political activist in the Cherokee Nation in Indian Territory. He helped found the Nighthawk Keetoowah Society, whose members revitalized traditional spi ...
, Cherokee traditionalist and political activist. *
Standing Bear Standing Bear (c. 1829–1908) (Ponca official orthography: Maⁿchú-Naⁿzhíⁿ/Macunajin;U.S. Indian Census Rolls, 1885 Ponca Indians of Dakota other spellings: Ma-chú-nu-zhe, Ma-chú-na-zhe or Mantcunanjin pronounced ) was a Ponca chief a ...
(
Ponca The Ponca ( Páⁿka iyé: Páⁿka or Ppáⁿkka pronounced ) are a Midwestern Native American tribe of the Dhegihan branch of the Siouan language group. There are two federally recognized Ponca tribes: the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska and the Ponca ...
, ca. 1834–1908), chief who successfully argued in US District Court case establishing the right of habeas corpus for Native Americans *
Ralph W. Sturges Ralph Weston Sturges (December 25, 1918 – October 1, 2007) was an American Mohegan tribal chief who helped gain Native American recognition in the United States, federal recognition for the Mohegan people of Connecticut in 1994. He also he ...
, American Mohegan tribal chief who helped gain federal recognition for the Mohegan people of Connecticut in 1994. *
JoAnn Tall JoAnn Tall is an environmental activist of the Oglala Lakota tribe who has worked to ensure the people have a chance to approve major projects for energy development. She was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 1993 for her protests agains ...
(
Oglala Lakota The Oglala (pronounced , meaning "to scatter one's own" in Lakota language) are one of the seven subtribes of the Lakota people who, along with the Dakota people, Dakota, make up the Sioux, Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (Seven Council Fires). A majority ...
), environmental and anti-nuclear activist, co-founder of the Native Resource Coalition * Melissa L. Tatum, Research Professor of Law and Associate Director of the Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy Program at the University of Arizona's James E. Rogers College of Law *
Charlene Teters Charlene Teters (born April 25, 1952, Spokane, Washington) is a Native American artist, educator, and lecturer.Mai, Uyen"Culture Infused" Art Exhibit Presented by Cal Poly Pomona's La Bounty Chair of Interdisciplinary Applied Knowledge.''Califor ...
(
Spokane Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Ca ...
), artist, educator, editor, and founding boardmember of the National Coalition on Racism in Sports and the Media *
Mel Thom Melvin Thom (born July 28, 1938) was born on the Walker River Paiute reservation in Schurz, Nevada.Shreve, Bradley Glenn. "Red Power Rising: The National Indian Youth Council and the Origins of Intertribal Activism." p.159 Diss. U of Mexico, 2007. ...
(
Walker River Paiute The Walker River Indian Reservation is an Indian reservation located in central Nevada in the United States. It belongs to the Walker River Paiute Tribe, a federally recognized tribe of Northern Paiute people. The tribe represents two Northern P ...
), cofounder of National Indian Youth Council and president of the Southwest Regional Indian Youth Council *
Susette LaFlesche Tibbles Susette La Flesche, later Susette LaFlesche Tibbles and also called Inshata Theumba, meaning "Bright Eyes" (1854–1903), was a well-known Native American writer, lecturer, interpreter, and artist of the Omaha tribe in Nebraska. La Flesche was a ...
(
Omaha Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest city ...
-
Ponca The Ponca ( Páⁿka iyé: Páⁿka or Ppáⁿkka pronounced ) are a Midwestern Native American tribe of the Dhegihan branch of the Siouan language group. There are two federally recognized Ponca tribes: the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska and the Ponca ...
-
Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...
), author and international lecturer about Native American rights and reservation conditions. *
Thomas Tibbles Thomas Henry Tibbles (May 22, 1840 – May 14, 1928)Menyuk, Rachel, and Thomas Henry Tibbles. “Biographical Note.” Introduction. In ''Thomas Henry Tibbles Papers'', 5–6. Suitland, Maryland: Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, ...
, journalist and author from Omaha, Nebraska, who became an activist for Native American rights in the United States during the late 19th century and married Susette LaFlesche Tibbles. *
Catherine Troeh Catherine Herrold Troeh (January 5, 1911 – June 28, 2007) was an American historian, artist, activist and advocate for Native American rights and culture, especially in the Pacific Northwest. She was a member and elder of the Chinook tribe and a ...
( Chinook), editor, co-founder of
American Indian Women's Service League American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...
and only woman to serve on the Chinook Tribal Council *
John Trudell John Trudell (February 15, 1946December 8, 2015) was a Native American author, poet, actor, musician, and political activist. He was the spokesperson for the Indians of All Tribes' takeover of Alcatraz beginning in 1969, broadcasting as ''Radi ...
(
Santee Dakota The Dakota (pronounced , Dakota language: ''Dakȟóta/Dakhóta'') are a Native American tribe and First Nations band government in North America. They compose two of the three main subcultures of the Sioux people, and are typically divided into ...
), author, poet, actor, musician, and former chairman of the American Indian Movement. *
Asiba Tupahache Asiba Tupahache is a Matinecoc Metoac is an erroneous term used by some to group together the Munsee-speaking Lenape (west), Quiripi-speaking Unquachog (center) and Pequot-speaking Montaukett (east) American Indians on what is now Long Isl ...
, Matinecoc Nation Native American activist from New York. *
Clyde Warrior Clyde Merton Warrior (1939–1968) was a Native American activist and leader, orator and one of the founders of the National Indian Youth Council. He participated in the March on Washington and the War on Poverty in the 1960s and was a charismatic ...
, activist for Native American civil rights. *
Kevin K. Washburn Kevin K. Washburn (born 1967) is an American law professor, former dean of the University of New Mexico School of Law, and current Dean of the University of Iowa College of Law. He served in the administration of President Barack Obama as Assi ...
, former federal prosecutor, a trial attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice, and the General Counsel of the National Indian Gaming Commission. * Charmaine White Face (
Oglala Lakota The Oglala (pronounced , meaning "to scatter one's own" in Lakota language) are one of the seven subtribes of the Lakota people who, along with the Dakota people, Dakota, make up the Sioux, Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (Seven Council Fires). A majority ...
), spokesperson for the Teton Sioux Nation Treaty Council and coordinator of the Defenders of the Black Hills, which works toward the Fort Laramie Treaties of
1851 Events January–March * January 11 – Hong Xiuquan officially begins the Taiping Rebellion. * January 15 – Christian Female College, modern-day Columbia College, receives its charter from the Missouri General Assembly. ...
and
1868 Events January–March * January 2 – British Expedition to Abyssinia: Robert Napier leads an expedition to free captive British officials and missionaries. * January 3 – The 15-year-old Mutsuhito, Emperor Meiji of Jap ...
being enforced. She works in language preservation, land reclamation, and international indigenous human rights. *
Bernie Whitebear Bernie Whitebear (September 27, 1937 – July 16, 2000), birth name Bernard Reyes, was an American Indian activist in Seattle, Washington, a co-founder of the Seattle Indian Health Board (SIHB), the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation, and ...
( Colville), American Indian activist, a co-founder of the Seattle Indian Health Board (SIHB), the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation, and the Daybreak Star Cultural Center. *
Robert A. Williams Jr. Robert A. Williams Jr. is an American lawyer, author, and legal scholar. He works in the fields of federal Indian law, international law, indigenous peoples' rights, critical race and post-colonial theory. Williams teaches at the University of Ari ...
, an American lawyer who is a notable author and legal scholar in the field of Federal Indian Law, International Law and Indigenous Peoples Rights, and Critical Race and Post Colonial Theory. *
Sarah Winnemucca Sarah Winnemucca Hopkins ( – October 17, 1891) was a Northern Paiute author, activist (lecturer) and educator (school organizer). Her maiden name is Winnemucca. Her Northern Paiute language, Northern Paiute name was Thocmentony, also spelled To ...
(
Northern Paiute Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a r ...
, 1844–1891), author and lecturer who educated non-natives about conditions in Indian Country and founded a school for native children *
Zitkala-Sa Zitkala-Ša (Lakota: Zitkála-Šá, meaning Red Bird; February 22, 1876 – January 26, 1938), also known by her missionary and married name, Gertrude Simmons Bonnin, was a Yankton Dakota writer, editor, translator, musician, educator, and polit ...
(Gertrude Simmons Bonnin,
Yankton Dakota The Dakota (pronounced , Dakota language: ''Dakȟóta/Dakhóta'') are a Native American tribe and First Nations band government in North America. They compose two of the three main subcultures of the Sioux people, and are typically divided in ...
, 1876–1938), political writer and educator, religious freedom activist


Organizations

The following organizations have played an important role in the evolution of Federal Indian Law and Policy through activism, lobbying, government oversight and education.


Government

*
Bureau of Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States federal agency within the Department of the Interior. It is responsible for implementing federal laws and policies related to American Indians and A ...
* Bureau of Indian Affairs Police *
Bureau of Indian Education The Bureau of Indian Education (BIE), headquartered in the Main Interior Building in Washington, D.C., and formerly known as the Office of Indian Education Programs (OIEP), is a division of the U.S. Department of the Interior under the Assistant S ...
*
Crow Agency, Montana Crow Agency ( cro, awaasúuchia) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Big Horn County, Montana, United States and is near the actual location for the Little Bighorn National Monument and re-enactment produced by the Real Bird family known as B ...
*
Fort Peck Indian Agency The Fort Peck Agency of the Bureau of Indian Affairs is responsible for the Fort Peck Indian Reservation is located near Wolf Point, Montana. History The agency is responsible for 12,000 Assiniboine and Sioux enrolled tribal members and the reser ...
*
Indian Peace Commission The Indian Peace Commission (also the Sherman, Taylor, or Great Peace Commission) was a group formed by an act of Congress on July 20, 1867 "to establish peace with certain hostile Indian tribes." It was composed of four civilians and three, lat ...
*
National Indian Gaming Commission The National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC; ) is a United States federal regulatory agency within the Department of the Interior. Congress established the agency pursuant to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act in 1988. The commission is the only f ...
*
United States House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Indian and Alaska Native Affairs The United States House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Indigenous Peoples of the United States is one of the five subcommittees within the House Natural Resources Committee Jurisdiction #Measures relating to the welfare of Native Americans, i ...
*
United States Senate Committee on Indian Affairs The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs is a committee of the United States Senate charged with oversight in matters related to the American Indian, Native Hawaiian, and Alaska Native peoples. A Committee on Indian Affairs existed from 1820 to 19 ...
*
United States Congress Joint Special Committee on Conditions of Indian Tribes The Joint Special Committee on Conditions of Indian Tribes was formed on March 3, 1865, by resolution of both houses of U.S. Congress for the purpose of “directing an inquiry into the condition of the Indian tribes and their treatment by the civi ...


Agencies

Rocky Mountain Region Homge Blackfeet Agency Crow Agency Fort Belknap Agency Fort Peck Agency Northern Cheyenne Agency Rocky Boy's Agency Wind River Agency


Nations

*
Federally recognized tribes This is a list of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States of America. There are also federally recognized Alaska Native tribes. , 574 Indian tribes were legally recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) of the United ...
*
State-recognized tribes in the United States State-recognized tribes in the United States are organizations that identify as Native American tribes or heritage groups that do not meet the criteria for federally recognized Indian tribes but have been recognized by a process established under ...
*
List of Alaska Native tribal entities This list of Alaska Native tribal entities names the federally recognized tribes in the state of Alaska. The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 explains how these Alaska Native villages came to be tracked this way. This version was upda ...


Native American advocacy groups and rights organizations

*
Alaska Federation of Natives The Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN) is the largest statewide Native organization in Alaska. Its membership includes 178 villages (both federally recognized tribes and village corporations), thirteen regional native corporations, and twelve re ...
* Alaska Native Brotherhood/Sisterhood *
American Indian College Fund The American Indian College Fund is a nonprofit organization that helps Native American students, providing them with support through scholarships and funding toward higher education. The fund provides an average of 6,000 annual scholarships for ...
*
American Indian Defense Association The American Indian Defense Association (AIDA) was an organization founded in 1923 by social worker John Collier that fought to protect religious freedom and tribal property for Native Americans in the United States.
*
American Indian Higher Education Consortium The American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) was established in 1972 to represent the interests of the newly developed tribal colleges, which are controlled and operated by American Indian nations. The four founders were Gerald One F ...
*
American Indian Movement The American Indian Movement (AIM) is a Native American grassroots movement which was founded in Minneapolis, Minnesota in July 1968, initially centered in urban areas in order to address systemic issues of poverty, discrimination, and police ...
*
American Indian Philosophy Association The American Indian Philosophy Association (AIPA) is an organization whose purpose is to promote and further the study of philosophical Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those abou ...
* Americans for Indian Opportunity *
Anishinaabe tribal political organizations A Tribal Political Organization is a political tribal council advocating the political interests of the First Nations and Tribes of their constituency. This list focuses on the TPOs to which the various Anishinaabe nations belong. List of Anishin ...
*
Association on American Indian Affairs The Association on American Indian Affairs (originally the American Indian Defense Association) is a nonprofit human rights charity located in Rockville, Maryland. Founded in 1922, it is dedicated to protecting the rights of Native Americans in ...
*
Cherokee Preservation Foundation Cherokee Preservation Foundation is an independent nonprofit foundation established in 2000 as part of the Tribal-State Compact amendment between the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) and the State of North Carolina. The Foundation is fund ...
*
Cheyenne military societies Cheyenne military societies are one of the two central institutions of traditional Cheyenne native American tribal governance, the other being the Council of Forty-four. While council chiefs are responsible for overall governance of individual ban ...
*
Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission The Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC) is an intertribal, co-management agency committed to the implementation of off-reservation treaty rights on behalf of its eleven-member Ojibwa tribes. Formed in 1984 and exercising authorit ...
* Guilford Native American Association *
Indian Health Service The Indian Health Service (IHS) is an operating division (OPDIV) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). IHS is responsible for providing direct medical and public health services to members of federally-recognized Nativ ...
*
Indian Rights Association The Indian Rights Association (IRA) was a social activist group dedicated to the well being and acculturation of American Indians. Founded by non-Indians in Philadelphia in 1882, the group was highly influential in American Indian policy through ...
*
Inter-Tribal Environmental Council The Inter-Tribal Environmental Council (ITEC) was set up in 1992 to protect the health of Native Americans, their natural resources , and environment. To accomplish this ITEC provides technical support, training and environmental services in a var ...
*
Metrolina Native American Association The Metrolina Native American Association (MNAA) is a Native American community association in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. MNAA is a North Carolina state-recognized Urban Indian Center. Incorporated in January 1976 by local Native Ameri ...
*
National Congress of American Indians The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) is an American Indian and Alaska Native rights organization. It was founded in 1944 to represent the tribes and resist federal government pressure for termination of tribal rights and assimilati ...
*
National Indian Education Association The National Indian Education Association (NIEA) is the only national nonprofit exclusive to education issues for American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian people of the United States. History In March 1969, Sparlin Norwood, Cherokee, ...
*
National Indian Youth Council The National Indian Youth Council (NIYC) is the second oldest American Indian organization in the United States with a membership of more than 15,000.National Indian Youth Council, Inc."NIYC History" Retrieved on 2009-09-30. It was the first in ...
*
Native American Fish and Wildlife Society The Native American Fish and Wildlife Society (NAFWS) is a non-profit organization and is a national tribal organization in the United States established informally during the early 1980s. NAFWS was incorporated in 1983 to develop a national comm ...
*
Native American Rights Fund The Native American Rights Fund (NARF) is a non-profit organization that uses existing laws and treaties to ensure that U.S. state governments and the U.S. federal government live up to their legal obligations. NARF also "provides legal representa ...
*
North American Indian Center of Boston The North American Indian Center of Boston, Inc. (NAICOB) is a nonprofit organization located in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, a neighborhood of Boston, which provides assistance to American Indians, Native Canadians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawa ...
* Northern California Indian Development Council *
Original Keetoowah Society The Original Keetoowah Society is a 21st-century Cherokee religious organization dedicated to preserving the culture and teachings of the Keetoowah Nighthawk Society ( chr, ᎩᏚᏩ ᎤᎾᏙᏢᎯ) in Oklahoma. It has been described as the survi ...
* Phi Sigma Nu *
Algonquian Confederacy of the Quinnipiac Tribal Council The Algonquian Confederacy of the Quinnipiac Tribal Council (ACQTC) is an alliance dedicated to the history and culture of the Quinnipiac, the aboriginal peoples of the North American region now known as Connecticut. ACQTC, Inc. incorporated under ...
*
Sequoyah Research Center The Sequoyah National Research Center (SNRC), located in Little Rock, Arkansas, is home of the American Native Press Archives (ANPA). ANPA is one of the largest repositories of Native American publications in the world. The Center is also home to ...
*
Society of American Indians The Society of American Indians (1911–1923) was the first national American Indian rights organization run by and for American Indians. The Society pioneered twentieth century Pan-Indianism, the movement promoting unity among American Indians r ...
* Tohono O'Odham Ki:Ki Association *
Traditional Circle of Indian Elders & Youth The Traditional Circle of Indian Elders and Youth, established in 1977, is a native American cultural society which operates as a council of respected leaders of American Indian nations. It aims to renew and preserve native American culture, value ...
*
Tree of Peace Society The Tree of Peace Society was founded in 1984 and incorporated in New York State on October 17, 1994, as a "foreign" not-for-profit corporation ("foreign" a legal formality owing to tribal sovereignty considerations). Its headquarters are located o ...
*
Tribal College Librarians Institute The Tribal College Librarians Institute (TCLI) is a week-long professional development experience for tribal college librarians from all over the United States and Canada, normally held in Bozeman, Montana. History The groundwork for TCLI was for ...
*
United Indians of All Tribes United Indians of All Tribes (also known as the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation, or UIATF) is a non-profit foundation that provides social and educational services to Native Americans in the Seattle metropolitan area and aims to promot ...
*
White Earth Land Recovery Project The White Earth Land Recovery Project (WELRP) is a nonprofit, grassroots organization that seeks to recover land for the Anishinaabeg people on the White Earth Indian Reservation in western Minnesota and develop programs to achieve sustainability a ...
*
Women's National Indian Association The Women's National Indian Association (WNIA) was founded in 1879 by a group of United States, American women, including educators and activists Mary Bonney and Amelia Stone Quinton. Bonney and Quinton united in the 1880s against the encroachment ...


Events and issues

*
Aboriginal title in the United States The United States was the first jurisdiction to acknowledge the common law doctrine of aboriginal title (also known as "original Indian title" or "Indian right of occupancy"). Native American tribes and nations establish aboriginal title by ac ...
*
Blood quantum laws Blood quantum laws or Indian blood laws are laws in the United States that define Native American status by fractions of Native American ancestry. These laws were enacted by the federal government and state governments as a way to establi ...
*
Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood A Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood or Certificate of Degree of Alaska Native Blood (both abbreviated CDIB) is an official U.S. document that certifies an individual possesses a specific fraction of Native American ancestry of a federally reco ...
*
Indian termination policy Indian termination is a phrase describing United States policies relating to Native Americans from the mid-1940s to the mid-1960s. It was shaped by a series of laws and practices with the intent of assimilating Native Americans into mainstream ...
*
Native American self-determination Native American self-determination refers to the social movements, legislation and beliefs by which the Native American tribes in the United States exercise self-governance and decision making on issues that affect their own people. Conceptua ...
*
Native American civil rights Native American civil rights are the civil rights of Native Americans in the United States. Native Americans are citizens of their respective Native nations as well as the United States, and those nations are characterized under United State ...
*
Native American Reservation Politics Native American politics remain divided over different issues such as assimilation, education, healthcare, and economic factors that affect reservations. As a multitude of nations living within the United States, the Native American peoples fa ...
*
Secretarial Review Secretarial Review is a part of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 (IRA). According to this law, Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribes were expected to write constitutions loosely resembling the United States Constitutio ...
*
Tribal sovereignty in the United States Tribal sovereignty in the United States is the concept of the inherent authority of tribe (Native American), indigenous tribes to govern themselves within the borders of the United States. Originally, the Federal government of the Unite ...
*
Trail of Broken Treaties The Trail of Broken Treaties (also known as the Trail of Broken Treaties Caravan and the Pan American Native Quest for Justice) was a 1972 cross-country caravan of American Indian and First Nations organizations that started on the West Coast of ...


Literature

* * * * * * * * * * Hays, Joel Stanford. "Twisting the Law: Legal Inconsistencies in Andrew Jackson's Treatment of Native-American Sovereignty and State Sovereignty." ''Journal of Southern Legal History,'' 21 (no. 1, 2013), 157–92. * * * Morris, Lisa. (2015). Dying in Indian Country. Sisters, OR: Deep River Books. . * * * Prucha, Francis Paul, ed. ''Documents of United States Indian Policy'' (3rd ed. 2000) * Prucha, Francis Paul. ''American Indian Treaties: The History of a Political Anomaly'' (1997
excerpt and text search
* Prucha, Francis Paul. ''The Great Father: The United States Government and the American Indians'' (abridged edition, 1986) * * Scofield, Ruth Packwood. (1992). ''Behind the Buckskin Curtain.'' New York: Carlton Press, Inc. * * ** Blood Struggle highlights major events and consequences in American Indian history since the Termination Act of 1953. * * * *Robert J. McCarthy, The Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Federal Trust Obligation to American Indians, 19 BYU J. PUB. L. 1 (December, 2004).


See also

*
Native Energy Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and enterta ...
*
Pan-Indianism Pan-Indianism is a philosophical and political approach promoting unity, and to some extent cultural homogenization, among different Indigenous groups in the Americas regardless of tribal distinctions and cultural differences. This approach to ...
*
Tribal colleges and universities In the United States, tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) are a Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, category of higher education, Minority Serving Institution, minority-serving institutions defined in the Higher Educa ...
* Tribal Council


Notes


External links


American Indian Policy CenterNational Congress of American IndiansTribal Court Clearinghouse
Tribal Law and Policy Institute

{{DEFAULTSORT:United States Federal Indian Law And Policy United States law-related lists Native American law Native American-related lists 1 Legislation concerning indigenous peoples United States federal Indian law and policy