Type a new keyword(s) and press Enter to search

Sovereignty

 

            
             Sovereignty is typically defined as supreme legal authority, the dictionary defines sovereignty as "supreme and independent political authority," From its earliest days, the United States is familiar to the sovereign status of Indian tribes as "domestic dependent nations." The Constitution recognizes Indian sovereignty by classing Indian treaties among the "supreme Law of the land," and establishes Indian affairs as a unique area of federal concern. In early Indian treaties, the United States pledged to "protect" Indian tribes, thereby establishing one of the bases for the federal trust responsibility in their government-to-government relations with Indian tribes. These principles continue to guide their national policy towards Indian tribes. .
             The Indians have tried to use Sovereignty as a safeguard against interference of state law with an Indian reservation.
             Sovereignty has many powers that the government has made, which are 1) Power to establish, inform a government. 2) Power to determine tribal membership. 3) Power to maintain order. 4) Power to exclude people from tribal territory (REZ). 5) Power to charter business. 6) Power of Immunity (no law suite), no law suite against tribal government (tribes) unless tribe consents to it. But tribes are not immune from suits by the United States.
             "Indian Tribes, like other Sovereigns, cannot be used without an "unequivocally expressed" waver of sovereign immunity". [AIRI Press Pg. 39] .
             Yet, at the same time, Congress holds the power to revoke a tribe's recognition and declare it nonexistent or place it under the jurisdiction of the federal government. .
             Tribes are independent entities with inherit powers of self-government.
             Sovereignty is an especially odd prodigy. Everyone seems to want it. Those who say that they know it all tell them that sovereignty is just what they have, although some have more of it than others have. Even so, for such a well-known fact of life, and for such a cherished ambition, there is a disturbing uncertainty as to what it is exactly, or where it is to be found or if it really exists.


Essays Related to Sovereignty