The sovereignty of Native American nations in the United States presents a complicated set of issues, wrapped in various viewpoints and interwoven with the past, present and future. However, this entry doesn’t discuss the historical or political situation, it points to current geography. Please excuse me as I sidestep the sensitivities while focusing on boundaries determined by people of European descent. I’m hoping to present this in a neutral fashion. Comments are always welcome.
Nation?
Native Americans managed themselves just fine in Pre-Columbian times. They may not have been organized in accordance with European governance but so what. They formed into sovereign and independent units as tribes, confederations and other arrangements. Many advocates for Native Americans maintain that this sovereignty continues to exist today, that the Nations exist as literal nations, even though a dominant power refuses to accept that.
State?
The United States government presents a confusing view. It says it recognizes tribal sovereignty but not on an international level. The interaction takes place primarily through the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs. The United States ceased forming treaties with the Native American nations in 1871 and granted citizenship to all members (those who had not already attained citizenship) in 1924. The Federal government views the Native Americans nations within its boundaries as integral but subordinate to the Federal government.
The United States retains title to the reservation lands within its boundaries and holds it in trust on behalf of its Native American occupants. To them it forms just another parcel of U.S. government land like a military base or a national park, albeit with a special purpose. This land comprises more than 55 million acres held on behalf of 562 recognized tribal governments.
The Federal government allows Indian reservations to preserve a level of self-government. While a reservation forms part of the surrounding state(s) that it occupies territorially, it retains an exemption from state encroachments unless specified by Federal law. Thus, reservations do not generally pay state taxes. Tribal governments can also possess significant authorities including systems of laws with police power and courts to enforce them. Many of them levy taxes, license motor vehicles, provide social services and perform a wide variety of functions one would normally expect from a state. But they are not states.
The interrelationship between the Native American nations and the various levels of government in the U.S. can be extremely complicated. The FAQ on the BIA website does help sort out some of the more common issues from a U.S. Government perspective.
County?
One more level of complexity exists. This one fascinates me most of all because I have no idea how it might work in practice. Sometimes a reservation completely overlaps a county, ordinarily the third level of government. It doesn’t happen frequently. Counties in the eastern United States generally cover smaller areas, but settlers forced Native Americans from those areas primarily during the Colonial era. Many more reservations exist out west but few reservations can cover one of those huge counties completely. Thus, we need need to look towards the middle of the country, where Native Americans retained a foothold but where the counties still remain relatively compact.
I found several. However, this may not be the complete list of county-reservation combos. A quick examination uncovered these first. Nonetheless, I’ll add more if I find them.
Menominee County, Wisconsin
This particular example got me thinking about the subject originally. I’ve spent a lot of time traveling in Wisconsin and I noticed a map of Menominee County. It struck me that the entire county carried the label of the Menominee Indian Reservation, the home of the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin. The two were conterminous, that is, they shared the exact same borders. The county is the reservation and the reservation is the county.
I did a little research and discovered that wasn’t exactly the case. The county came into being in 1959 in anticipation of the disestablishment of the reservation. Indeed, that happen in 1961. However authorities subsequently reestablished the reservation a few years later, in 1973. Non-Indian peoples purchased some of the land during that brief window so that 1.14% of Menominee County actually passed into private hands and does not form part of the reservation.
Osage County, Oklahoma
Osage County is the largest in Oklahoma. Also, it overlaps the Osage Indian Reservation, the home of the Osage Nation. This one bumps right up to the northwest corner of Tulsa. In fact, the map seems to show that the Tulsa Country Club falls within the reservation boundaries.
Todd County, South Dakota
Indian Reservations completely cover five counties in South Dakota, by far the most of any state.
The first is Todd County which is conterminous with the main Rosebud Indian Reservation (other lands are held outside of this as well). The reservation provides a home to the Rosebud Sioux Tribe. Interestingly, this county does not include a county seat. An administrative center in neighboring Tripp County handles those functions.
Oglala Lakota Shannon County, South Dakota
[UPDATE: Shannon County became Oglala Lakota in May 2015]
The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, home of Oglala Sioux Tribe, engulfs the entirety of Oglala Lakota within its extensive borders. Like Todd County, Oglala Lakota does not include a county seat. Instead, neighboring Fall River County performs those functions.
Dewey and Ziebach Counties, South Dakota
I found an interesting situation. The Cheyenne River Indian Reservation of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe is almost conterminous with Dewey and Ziebach Counties. However an extremely narrow strip at the northern edge of both counties falls outside of the reservation. Rather, that forms part of the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. So the entirety of both counties could be considered Indian Country but with an unusual twist.
Corson County, South Dakota and Sioux County, North Dakota
Speaking of the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, adjoining counties on opposite sides of state borders, Corson County in South Dakota and Sioux County in North Dakota form the final instance I observed. This reservation serves as the home of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. It covers about a million acres. The portion in North Dakota includes about a third of the reservation with the balance south of the state line.
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