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A tribal council is the governing body for certain Native American tribes within the United States.
Many sovereign American Indian nations in the United States organize their governments through elected tribal councils.
The term usually describes the governing body of a federally recognized tribe.[1] These councils often control lands known as Indian reservations, where some tribes may have more than one reservation while others may have none.[2][3] Federally recognized tribes in the United States are considered sovereign nations or "domestic dependent nations", and they have sovereign status somewhat comparable to the individual American states, in that they fall under the jurisdiction of the U.S. federal government but not under individual states.[4][5]
Different tribes have the autonomy to select their own governance structures, but most tribes have adopted democratic systems. In these systems, a Tribal Council or an equivalent body functions as a legislative branch, while an elected or appointed Chairman, Chairwoman, or Chairperson serves in an executive role comparable to that of the President at the federal level.[6][1] On a few American Indian reservations such as the Hopi Reservation and the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) reservations, a U.S.-recognized and -funded, democratically elected tribal government operates in parallel and, in some cases, in conflict with the nation's traditionalist governance.
- ^ a b "How are tribal governments organized? | Indian Affairs". www.bia.gov. Retrieved 2024-11-24.
- ^ Smith Jr, Quinn (March 1, 2021). "What Are Tribal Nations and Reservations? – The Wellian Magazine". Retrieved 2024-11-24.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
ITCAwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Tribal and Ownership Statuses: Overview and Selected Issues for Congress". Congressional Research Service. July 21, 2021. p. 1.
- ^ Royster, Judith V.; Fausett, Rory SnowArrow (1989). "Control of the reservation environment: tribal primacy, federal delegation, and the limits of state intrusion". Wash. L. Rev. 64: 595–596 – via TU Law Digital Commons.
- ^ Pevar, Stephen L. (2024). The Rights of Indians and Tribes (5th ed.). New York, New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 134–135. ISBN 978-0190077563.