Know Your Government

How tribal nations govern

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Sovereignty and recognition

Tribal sovereignty is inherent: it was not granted by the United States. In three early cases, Johnson v. M'Intosh (1823), Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831) and Worcester v. Georgia (1832), known together as the Marshall Trilogy, the Supreme Court described tribes as “domestic dependent nations” (Cherokee Nation) and as distinct political communities in which state law has no force (Worcester). Congress's broad power over Indian affairs rests on the Indian Commerce Clause (Article I, Section 8) and the treaty power, and Congress and the courts have since limited tribal powers in some respects.

Federally recognized tribes have a government-to-government relationship with the United States, chiefly through the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the Department of the Interior. Congress recognized the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina in December 2025, and the Bureau's list of January 30, 2026 has 575 tribes, up from 574.

Under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (1975) and the Tribal Self-Governance Act (1994), tribes can run federally funded programs, such as health care and schools, themselves.

Sources: Johnson v. M'Intosh, 21 U.S. 543 (1823); Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, 30 U.S. 1 (1831); Worcester v. Georgia, 31 U.S. 515 (1832); U.S. Constitution, Article I; Bureau of Indian Affairs: Indian Entities Recognized (91 FR 4102, Jan. 30, 2026); Bureau of Indian Affairs: What is a federally recognized tribe?; 25 U.S.C. 5301 (Indian Self-Determination Act); 25 U.S.C. 5361 (Tribal Self-Governance)

Tribal governments

Tribes organize their governments in many ways: under constitutions of their own, under constitutions adopted through the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, or in traditional forms. Many have a council that makes the laws, an executive, and courts.

Tribal citizens

Tribal councilElected; makes tribal law, the budget, and policy on land and resources
Chair, president, governor or chiefElected by the citizens or by the council; leads the government and deals with federal, state and local governments
Tribal courtsInterpret and apply tribal law; some also use traditional peacemaking

A common pattern. Many tribes are organized differently.

Tribal council or general council: The lawmaking body, elected by district, clan or at large. In some tribes the general council is every adult citizen. It passes the tribe's codes and budget and sets policy on land, natural resources, gaming and business.
Chair, president, governor or principal chief: The chief executive and the tribe's spokesperson. Runs its departments, and negotiates with federal agencies, states (gaming compacts among them) and local governments.
Vice chair or vice president: Stands in for the chief executive and often leads parts of the administration.
Tribal administrator: A professional manager who runs the tribe's programs, grants and enterprises day to day.
Tribal police: Enforce tribal law under the tribe's own authority, often alongside federal and state officers.

The tribal governments map lists each tribal government under the state its office is in, with the leader the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Tribal Leaders Directory names.

Sources: 25 U.S.C. 5123 (tribal constitutions); Bureau of Indian Affairs: What is a federally recognized tribe?; Bureau of Indian Affairs: Tribal Leaders Directory

Tribal courts

Many tribes run their own justice systems, which the Indian Tribal Justice Act (1993) supports with federal funding.

Tribal trial courts: Hear cases under tribal law: crimes, family and child-custody matters (including cases under the Indian Child Welfare Act), probate and contracts.
Tribal appeals courts: Review trial decisions and decide disputes under the tribe's constitution.
Peacemaking: Some tribes resolve disputes through traditional peacemaking, in which respected members help the parties reach agreement rather than a judge deciding.
Courts of Indian Offenses: Where a tribe keeps jurisdiction but has no court of its own, the Bureau of Indian Affairs runs a Court of Indian Offenses, often called a CFR court (25 C.F.R. Part 11). Its magistrates are appointed by the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, subject to confirmation by the tribe's governing body, for four-year terms.

The Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968 applies most of the Bill of Rights' protections to tribal governments. It also limits the sentences tribal courts can impose: six months and a $500 fine for an offense as passed in 1968, and since a 1986 amendment one year and a $5,000 fine (25 U.S.C. 1302(a)(7)). The Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010 raised the limit to three years and a $15,000 fine for one offense, and nine years in all, for a tribe that provides added protections, among them a licensed defense lawyer and a law-trained judge.

Sources: 25 U.S.C. 3601 (Indian Tribal Justice Act); 25 U.S.C. 1911 (Indian Child Welfare Act); 25 C.F.R. 11.201 (Courts of Indian Offenses: magistrates); 25 U.S.C. 1302 (Indian Civil Rights Act)

Who has jurisdiction in Indian country

Indian country is a term federal law defines: all land within an Indian reservation, all dependent Indian communities, and Indian allotments whose Indian titles have not been extinguished (18 U.S.C. 1151). Which government can prosecute a crime there depends on where it happened, who committed it and who the victim was.

Federal: the General Crimes Act (18 U.S.C. 1152) extends federal criminal law to Indian country, except for crimes one Indian commits against another, an Indian already punished under tribal law, and cases a treaty leaves to the tribe. The Major Crimes Act (18 U.S.C. 1153) gives federal courts jurisdiction over a list of serious crimes, among them murder, kidnapping, felony assault and sexual abuse, committed by an Indian in Indian country. Neither generally applies in the six Public Law 280 states below. Tribes can also prosecute Indian defendants, within the sentencing limits above.
Tribal: in Oliphant v. Suquamish Indian Tribe (1978), the Supreme Court held that tribes cannot prosecute non-Indians unless Congress authorizes it. Congress did so in the Violence Against Women Act of 2013 for domestic and dating violence and violations of protection orders, and in 2022 widened the list to include sexual violence, stalking, sex trafficking, child violence, obstruction of justice and assaults on tribal justice personnel. A tribe must choose to exercise this jurisdiction and give defendants the protections the law requires, among them a licensed defense lawyer and a jury that does not systematically exclude non-Indians.
State: Public Law 280 (1953) gave six states criminal jurisdiction over most of the Indian country within them, in place of the federal government: Alaska (where the Metlakatla Indian Community also keeps criminal jurisdiction), California, Minnesota (except the Red Lake reservation), Nebraska, Oregon (except the Warm Springs reservation) and Wisconsin. It also opened their courts to private civil suits arising there, but did not let states regulate or tax tribes (Bryan v. Itasca County, 1976). Ten more states later took on some jurisdiction by choice: Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Washington. Some jurisdiction has since been returned to the federal government and the tribes.
State, where federal law still applies: in Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta (2022) the Supreme Court held 5-4 that the federal government and a state have concurrent jurisdiction to prosecute crimes non-Indians commit against Indians in Indian country, and that a state has criminal jurisdiction in Indian country unless it is preempted. That is so in every state but the six Public Law 280 names, where the General Crimes Act does not apply and the state holds that jurisdiction in place of the federal government (18 U.S.C. 1162). Two years earlier, in McGirt v. Oklahoma (2020), the Court had held 5-4 that the Creek Nation's reservation was never disestablished and remains Indian country, so Oklahoma cannot prosecute Indians there for the crimes the Major Crimes Act covers.

Sources: 18 U.S.C. 1151 (Indian country defined); 18 U.S.C. 1152 (General Crimes Act); 18 U.S.C. 1153 (Major Crimes Act); Oliphant v. Suquamish Indian Tribe, 435 U.S. 191 (1978); 25 U.S.C. 1304 (special Tribal criminal jurisdiction); U.S. Department of Justice: 2013 and 2022 Reauthorizations of VAWA; 18 U.S.C. 1162 (Public Law 280: criminal jurisdiction); 28 U.S.C. 1360 (Public Law 280: civil actions); Bureau of Indian Affairs: What is Public Law 280?; Bryan v. Itasca County, 426 U.S. 373 (1976); Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta, 597 U.S. 629 (2022); McGirt v. Oklahoma, 591 U.S. 894 (2020)