Native American Sovereignty

5 Pages 1168 Words

1. Native Sovereignty

Growing up, I always heard that sovereignty meant “a nation within a nation.” Tribes definitely seemed like their own nation, with their own police force, court, and fire departments, so I never doubted that Tribes were completely sovereign. However, in learning more about the topic, it became clear that Tribes still depend some, if not a lot, on the U.S. government. Yet this dependence does not mean that Tribes have not made progress; they are far more self-sufficient now than they were even twenty years ago. This progress is promising but the process of becoming more sovereign is a slow one.

In spite of the progress being made, it seems improbable that Tribes will ever be able to completely rid themselves of the government. This is in large part due to the BIA. Every reservation has a BIA, no matter how little or how much they think they actually use it. For example, on the Umatilla Reservation people believe that they don’t use the BIA very much. However, what they apparently don’t know is that a lot of the Tribal wages are paid by the BIA. And the BIA is federally funded, meaning that unless Tribes are able to separate themselves from the BIA, which they won’t be able to do until they are financially stable enough to completely support themselves, they will always be at least a little dependent on the government.

Also, there are some things that the government tells Tribes they are not allowed to do. For example, if there is a murder on a reservation, the Federal Bureau of Investigations is assigned to handle it. In fact, even though a lot of reservations have their own court system, which pushes them toward independence, they are not allowed to handle major felonies. This sends a lot of mixed signals. The government says they want Tribes to be sovereign, but then they also tell them that there are some things that they are not allowed to do. A comparison would be a parent who...