Tribal sovereignty in the United States

Tribal sovereignty in the United States is the inherent authority of Indigenous tribes to govern themselves within United States borders, resting on the principle that Native peoples hold inherent rights and a political relationship with the federal government that does not derive from race or ethnicity. The United States Constitution mentions Native American tribes three times, addressing the taxation and representation of Indians not taxed, granting Congress the power to regulate commerce with the Indian tribes and thereby treating tribes as separate political entities, and amending apportionment through the Fourteenth Amendment. The United States recognizes tribal nations as domestic dependent nations, with 575 federally recognized tribes and the federal government acting as trustee of tribal lands and resources; the Indian Appropriations Act of 1871 ended treaty-making and shifted tribal governance from a treaty basis to a statutory one, a change Native Americans steadfastly opposed. Contemporary federal policy emphasizes a government-to-government relationship with tribal nations, though ultimate federal authority still rests on Congress's plenary power over tribal affairs. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/