To what extent are Native American tribes sovereign nations?

Since Congress unilaterally abrogated the treaty relationship with tribes and the Supreme Court ruled that Congress has plenipotentiary power over Indian tribes (in other words, the power to make laws over tribes without their consent), tribal sovereignty has been vastly diminished. read more

Other cases of those years precluded states from interfering with tribal nations' sovereignty. Tribal sovereignty is dependent on, and subordinate to, only the federal government, not states, under Washington v. Confederated Tribes of Colville Indian Reservation (1980). Tribes are sovereign over tribal members and tribal land, under United States v. read more

For the federal government, U.S. tribal sovereignty means that Native American tribes are “domestic dependent nations” that exist within the boundaries of the U.S. and that they are wards of the U.S., even though they may operate and manage some internal tribal affairs. read more