 Originally , crimes committed by Indians against Indians were not subject to federal or state jurisdiction , but were handled by tribal law . In 1881 , a Brulé Lakota named Crow Dog shot and killed another Indian , Spotted Tail , on the Great Sioux Reservation in South Dakota . Crow Dog was tried in federal court for murder , found guilty , and sentenced to hang . He petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus to the Supreme Court , and in Ex parte Crow Dog the Supreme Court found that the federal government did not have jurisdiction to try the case . Crow Dog was ordered released , having made restitution under tribal law to Spotted Tail 's family . 
