Indian Territorial Sovereignty?

Question

Indian Territorial Sovereignty

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So, why exactly do we allow Indian nations to exist as sovereign entities within Canada and the United States, while giving them the privilege of citizenship while exempting them from all the obligations of citizenship?

If you find me an Indian nation which had valid (as in, legal claims) claims to their territories, maybe. Even then, a nation which has existed for as long as the United States has, and which has been internationally recognized as a sovereign nation, has "earned" its sovereignty, if it were in question.

The only thing which undermines US sovereignty is that they belonged the the United Kingdom once, not that the land was lived on by Indians.

Answer 1

The reason is for pacification purposes. The more you repress a culture, the more likely you are to create a class of people that will enter open rebellion.

By giving the option to live on reservations, the government gave a chance for groups of people to stop fighting to retain their homes and gain a recognized home that wouldn't be violated.

This also allowed the US government a handy group of hostages, to attempt to subdue the more warlike bands.

Unfortunately for the purpose of total conquest, this also allowed the now-peaceful groups to begin to recruit their own brand of friends. For different reasons, the slow erosion of the sovereignty of the Tribal Reservations stopped, and the Super-Nation that was European Immigration never totally dominated the continent.

Now, there remain ethnic groups which are and will fight for the reemergence of their nation. Palestine is a prime example. By keeping the fiction that is Sovereign Native American Tribes, the problem of ethnic revolution is reduced. As time passes and the threat of it decreases and the poverty of the land-locked groups increase, so too will the halted erosion of the Sovereignty of these groups resume.

So EVERY nation has a valid (as in, legal) claim to the territory it currently holds, as given by a treaty by the Government in charge at the time, and usually have a claim to an even larger area (such as the Sioux tribe and the Entire Black Hills region) which was revoked illegally on the needs of the stronger group, often when the Native American group was in a state too weak to defend against said action.

(Additional Details: America is recognized by England as a Soverign Nation after the Revolutionary War.)

Answer 2

they are and were in existence before either British empire, or USA and were recognized as nations by each other and the new invaders, the same is true of Europe the only right to Sovereignty is that it was and is recognized by others and has a history of language and separate customs making them unique. Legality is a construct and each nation has it's own legal system, within the greater state. Treaties were signed between nations just as in the rest of the world and from these borders were drawn.

obligations of citzenship? Native Americans serve in the military more than any other group per capita, but that may also reflect the  high poverty levels too.

"Tribal sovereignty means that; it's sovereign. I mean, you're a — you've been given sovereignty, and you're viewed as a sovereign entity. And therefore the relationship between the federal government and tribes is one between sovereign entities." GWBush—Washington, D.C., Aug. 6, 2004

Answer 3

The Indians have lived on this land a lot longer than we have.  How exactly do we have a legal claim to the territory and they don't?  Come to think of it, how do you define claim to a territory?  The Indians didn't have any contact with Europe, so the fact that Europe recognized Americans and not Indians doesn't make much difference.  Do you think the Americans can tell the Indians "this is our land because those people on the other side of the ocean said so"?

Answer 4

Not every tribe was defeated by the United States -- a fact recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court in World War II. The U.S. tried to draft members of the Florida Seminole tribe, who sued in federal court, saying they were not under the authority of the U.S. government because they were never conquered. The Supreme Court agreed and ruled the U.S. could not draft Seminole tribe members.

Other Native American tribes exist by treaty. When the United States placed the tribes on reservation land, they recognized the individual tribes as being soverign nations. The treaties these tribes have signed with the United States limits their soveriegnty, but the very fact that a treaty exists means these tribes are soverign (a nation state can not sign a treaty with a non-nation state -- they can have agreements, concords and a number of other legal documents, but treaties are only between nation states).

Answer 5

There is a debate in many circles about whether land can be taken by force. Although youare absolutely right, that once taken and reognized by the international community, the sovereignity is unquestionable, there is still the question of whether it is right or wrong. The Supreme Court has ruled that it is indeed wrong and therefore we need to act accordingly. The solution is to allow them to have exactly as you put it. Citizenship without obligation.