Title: Native American Rights - lawbrain.com
Headings: Native American Rights
Native American Rights
Contents
Tribal Sovereignty
Treaty Rights
Reserved Rights Doctrine
Federal Power over Native American Rights
Hunting and Fishing Rights
Water Rights
Gaming Rights

Content: and a statement that the tribe recognized the authority or placed itself under the protection of the United States. Treaty making ended in 1871, when Congress passed a rider to an Indian appropriations act providing, " No Indian nation or tribe … shall be acknowledged or recognized as an independent nation, tribe, or power with whom the United States may contract by treaty …" (25 U.S.C.A. § 71). This rider was passed largely in response to the House of Representatives' frustration that it was excluded from Indian affairs because the constitutional power to make treaties rests exclusively with the Senate. Since 1871, the federal government has regulated Native American affairs through legislation, which does not require the consent of the Indians involved, as treaties do. Indian treaties may seem like historical documents, but the courts have consistently ruled that they retain the same legal force that they had when they were negotiated. Despite frequent challenges and intense opposition, courts have upheld guaranteed specific tribal rights, such as hunting and fishing rights. Often, disputes over treaty rights arise from conflicting interpretations of the specific language of treaty provisions. In general, there are three basic principles for interpreting treaty language. First, uncertainties in Indian treaties should be resolved in favor of the Indians. Second, Indian treaties should be interpreted as the Indians signing the treaty would have understood them.