The nature of the federal, state, and tribal relationship was defined in a highly politicized setting, when the Supreme Court of the United States, led by chief Justice John Marshall, struck down an entire series of state statutes violative of tribal-state and tribal-federal relations. These cases established the principles that Indian tribes possessed sovereignty over their members and territory and that the federal government protects tribal sovereignty, land, and resources from states and non-Indian interests.
The Supreme Court of the United States has specifically addressed the issue of whether specialized treatment of Indians by the federal government is unconstitutional racial discrimination. The clear answer of the Court was that it is not. For the purpose of dealing with the federal government, Indian tribes are not racial groupings but rather political groupings - governments.
This directory provides a unique source of information on the land areas controlled by these governments that many citizens do not even realize exist.
