Legal History

Tribal sovereignty is inherent to the Tribe itself, and it arises from a collective identity on which a Tribe’s relations with other sovereigns are built. The power of sovereignty often plays out within those relations, and what non-Tribal legal systems may recognize as a lawful exercise of Tribal sovereignty is largely shaped by those relations, particularly a Tribe’s relationship with the United States.

McGirt helps illustrate that a sound understanding of a Tribe’s legal history arising from its particular relationship with the United States offers critical context for analyzing Federal Indian law questions. Courts understand those histories through evaluation of the texts they have produced—for example, texts relating to the course of a Tribe's dealings with the United States or the treaties it may have entered with the United States or the statutes Congress may have enacted.

In this portion of our McGirt toolbox, we will aggregate several of the primary texts relating to legal histories of the Five Tribes and other Tribes to which McGirt may be applied. As available, we will include additional secondary resources such as Tribal advocacy briefs from McGirt or post-McGirt proceedings. We intend this portion of our toolbox to supplement resources available to Tribes as they continue to analyze how McGirt may apply to them.