What is the historical basis of tribal sovereignty?
Indian Nations were considered sovereign before the framing of the U.S. Constitution. European countries regularly dealt with Indians as nations as they entered into treaties for trade and alliance purposes. The U.S. Constitution, Article 1, Section 8, addresses Indian tribes as follows: “The Congress shall have the power to regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the several states and with Indian tribes.” Indians are the only group of people specifically mentioned in the U.S. Constitution. The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the sovereignty of tribes in a series of rulings. The most notable were three cases referred to as the Marshall Trilogy. The cases were Johnson v McIntosh (1823), Cherokee Nation v Georgia (1831), and Worcester v Georgia (1832). A recent case, California v Cabazon Band of Mission Indians (1987) deals directly with tribal gaming and confirms the right of tribes to conduct gaming activities.
