American Indians, Colonialism, and Federal Indian Policy Practice Flashcards

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering foundational US federal Indian law cases, jurisdictional statutes, tribal sovereignty principles, and modern environmental and economic regulations as presented in the lecture notes.

Johnson v. McIntosh

A landmark case where the court held that M’Intosh owned the land and the federal government holds exclusive title under the discovery doctrine, while tribes have only a right of occupancy.

Discovery Doctrine

A legal concept meaning discovery gives exclusive title to the European, Christian, 'civilized' nation that finds the land or whose interest it is found on.

Treaty of Hopewell

An agreement establishing peace with the Cherokee tribes, granting them US protection, hunting boundaries, and a deputy to Congress, while assuming they would eventually disappear or assimilate.

State v. Tassels

A case where Georgia executed a Cherokee man, Tassel, for murder in violation of the Supreme Court's plan to hear the challenge to state jurisdiction.

domestic dependent nations

The legal status assigned to Indian tribes in Cherokee Nation v. Georgia ($1831$), characterizing them as distinct political societies that are not foreign nations.

Original jurisdiction

Legal authority to hear a case directly rather than as an appeal from a lower court, such as suits between a state and a foreign nation.

Worcester v. Georgia

An $1832$ ruling that Georgia laws are unconstitutional when extended into Cherokee land because the management of Indian Affairs is a federal power.

Canon of construction

A rule of interpretation stating that ambiguities in treaties must be resolved in favor of tribes due to cultural and language barriers.

Plenary power doctrine

The principle establishing the primacy of federal power to manage relations with tribal nations.

US v. Sandoval

An $1913$ case ruling that federal power applies to Pueblo land owned in fee simple due to the 'dependence relationship' and 'character of Indians.'

Tutelage

The term used to describe the 'guardian-ward' relationship between the US government and tribes, where Congress decides when the relationship ends.

18 USC § 1151

The Indian Country Statute defining Indian Country as all land within reservations, dependent Indian communities, and Indian allotments with unextinguished titles.

McGirt v. Oklahoma

An $2020$ case ruling that a reservation remains Indian Country unless Congress expressly signals its intention to abrogate treaties and disestablish it.

25 USC § 5108

The statute authorizing the Secretary of the Interior to acquire land or water rights to provide land for Indians, granting tax exemption to such titles.

Indian Appropriations Act 1871

Legislation containing a provision that ended the practice of treaty-making with tribes, though it did not invalidate previous treaty obligations.

Ex Parte Crow Dog

An $1883$ ruling that the federal government lacked criminal jurisdiction over crimes committed by Indians against other Indians in Indian Country.

Major Crimes Act 1885

A law enacted by Congress after Crow Dog to extend federal criminal jurisdiction over major felonies like murder and rape committed by Indians in Indian Country.

United States v. Kagama

A case upholding the Major Crimes Act, declaring tribes 'wards of the nation' dependent on the federal government for protection against their 'deadliest enemies,' the states.

The Dawes Act

An $1887$ policy that broke up tribal reservations into individual allotments for heads of households, leading to massive tribal land loss.

Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock

An $1903$ case ruling that Congress can unilaterally break treaties with Indian tribes as it is within their domain of authority over Indian lands.

Morton v. Mancari

An $1974$ case upholding BIA Indian hiring preferences, ruling that the preference is not racial discrimination but a 'rationally related' employment criterion for self-government.

Haaland v. Brackeen

An $2023$ case upholding the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), ruling that federal power over 'Indian affairs' includes the placement of children.

Talton v. Mayes

An $1896$ case ruling that the $5$th Amendment does not apply to tribal governments because their powers of local self-government existed prior to the Constitution.

United States v. Wheeler

A case ruling that Double Jeopardy does not bar prosecution by both federal and tribal governments because they are separate, inherent sovereigns.

Indian Civil Rights Act (ICRA)

An $1968$ act creating federally enforceable quasi-constitutional rights against tribes, including the right of Habeas Review, but lacking several Bill of Rights protections.

Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez

An $1978$ ruling that federal courts lack jurisdiction to hear civil suits under ICRA, except for habeas corpus, to avoid intruding on tribal self-government.

Public Law 280

A law authorizing certain states to exercise criminal and civil jurisdiction in Indian Country; later amended to require tribal consent via referendum.

Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta

An $2022$ case ruling that states have concurrent criminal jurisdiction with the federal government over non-Indians who commit crimes against Indians in Indian Country.

Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA)

A law providing that the government cannot substantially burden religious exercise unless it demonstrates a compelling interest and uses the least restrictive means.

Oliphant v. Susquamish

An $1978$ ruling that tribal courts do not have criminal jurisdiction over non-Indians unless expressly authorized by Congress.

Duro v. Reina

A case holding that tribes lacked criminal jurisdiction over non-member Indians, which was later reversed by the 'Duro Fix' legislation.

VAWA (Oliphant Fix)

Provisions in the Violence Against Women Act allowing tribes to prosecute non-Indians for domestic violence and crimes against children if specific constitutional guarantees are met.

Montana test

A legal framework stating tribes lack civil jurisdiction over non-Indians on fee lands unless there is a consensual relationship or the conduct threatens tribal integrity, health, or welfare.

TAS (Treatment as States)

A status under the Clean Water Act allowing tribes to establish water quality standards that the EPA can enforce, even against upstream dischargers.

Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA)

An $1988$ act dividing gaming into three classes and requiring tribes to negotiate compacts with states for Class $III$ (casino-style) gaming.

ANCSA

The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act ($1971$) which extinguished aboriginal titles in exchange for money and land transferred to regional and village corporations.

Regional Corporations

Thirteen entities created under ANCSA that hold title to financial assets and subsurface rights for Alaska Natives.