Indian country jurisdiction, or the extent which tribal powers apply to legal situations in the United States, has undergone many drastic shifts since the beginning of European settlement in America. Over time, federal statutes and Supreme Court rulings have designated more or less power to tribal governments, depending on federal policy toward Indians. Numerous Supreme Court decisions have created important precedents in Indian country jurisdiction, such as Worcester v. Georgia, Oliphant v. Suquamish Tribe, Montana v. United States, and McGirt v. Oklahoma.
History
There have been many shifts in policy towards Indian Jurisdiction in the history of the United States. There are six major periods of policy regarding American Indians. The first is the British Colonial and Early U.S. Era, which was followed the Removal Era. The next period was the Allotment Era. The Reorganization Era was next and then the Termination Era. The last era is the one we are currently in, the Self-Determination Era. Different U.S. Supreme Court cases and Congressional rulings have shifted United States policy regarding Indian Jurisdiction, creating the different eras.
Colonial and early U.S. policy
The British passed the Proclamation of 1763 which created a boundary line between the British colonies and the American Indians lands west of the Appalachian Mountains. The proclamation forbade the British colonists from moving beyond the proclamation line into Indian Territory.
Important legislations passed by the United States Congress in early United States history were the Indian Intercourse Acts. They were passed in 1780, and then they expired and were renewed every two years until 1802, when permanent legislation was passed. The final Indian Intercourse Act was passed in 1834. These acts did many things, including regulating relations between Indians and non-Indians living on Indian land and defining "Indian Country."
Removal
After the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the United States began to extensively negotiate with the Indians in this newly acquired territory. U.S. citizens saw the land as being very fertile and as if it was theirs for the taking and because of this many land disputes arose between Indians and non-Indians in this region. The first case that allowed the American seizure of Indian lands was Johnson v. McIntosh, which stated that when a European nation discovered land in the new world, that it also gained the right to take the land from the natives by purchase or by conquest.
At this time, states wanted to remove Indians from their territory, which led to more treaties and the establishment of the controversial policy of U.S. ethnic cleansing. These feelings resulted in the Indian Removal Act, when Congress authorized President Andrew Jackson to take land away from Indians and give them land in the West. It was the Indian Removal Act that helped Jackson set into place the Trail of Tears in 1831.
Allotment
In the 1870s and 1880s there was an increasing amount of disapproval in regard to the government's reservation policy. People were seeing the Indians in two different ways. One group saw the Indians as a group of people living in poverty and shambles, while another group saw the Indians as a group of people causing large tracts of land to be excluded from white settlers. The combination of the two groups of people and their points of view led to the production of the General Allotment Act of 1887, also known as the Dawes Act. Allotments of 160 acres were handed out to each head of a family. Double amounts were handed out if the land was to be used for grazing. could also be given to each additional member of the household.
The government would retain the title handed out through the General Allotment Act for 25 years. This time period intended on doing two things. First, it would protect the allottee from immediately having to pay state taxes. Second, the land owner would learn how to manage his land and affairs. However, after the 25 years was up, many Indians found themselves subject to excessive state property taxes, which resulted in the sale of much of the land which Indians received through the Dawes Act. Very soon after many of the Indians losing the land which they earned through the Dawes Act, white settlers moved in on these open lots. This created a checkerboard effect, and made it nearly impossible to have sizable gains in farming and grazing.