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You are here: Home » Policy Issues » Tribal Governance Tribal Governance
The Congress shall have power to . . . regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes . . .
Article I, Section 8, United States Constitution
The U.S. Constitution recognizes that Indian tribes are independent governmental entities. Like state governments and foreign governments, Indian tribes have the inherent power to govern their people and their lands. A fundamental contract was created in the treaties. Indian tribes ceded millions of acres that make the United States what it is today; in return, tribes received the guarantee that the federal government would protect the tribes' right to govern their own people and their reservations as homelands for tribal cultures, religions, languages, and ways of life. Since the time of the Constitution, the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly affirmed the fundamental principle that Indian tribes retain their government powers unless specifically limited by treaty or by federal law.
Indian tribes, through their own progressive and painstaking actions in the implementation of the federal policy of self-determination, have made significant inroads into the BIA domination and poverty that gripped reservations for over150 years. Today, Indian tribes are full-service governments, offering Indians and non-Indians alike a broad range services.
It is important that we have strong functioning governments on the Indian reservations -- not just for Indian people, but for everyone in this country. In today's world, all of our governments have to work together. Whether we are addressing crime, responding to emergencies or protecting the environment - these issues don't stop at political boundary lines. All governments have to communicate with each other, and play their roles in the network of governments that protect the public's safety and health. NCAI is committed to working with all of our partners in federal, state and local governments to strengthen tribal governments and our national system of law enforcement, jurisdiction and government services.
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