Notes 249
I. Reservations (18 USC n51(a)). Historically, Indian reservations
were created when particular tribes signed treaties with the United States.
Among other things (treaties often included provisions for tribal members to
receive law enforcement, education, health care benefits, and to retain hunt
ing/fishing rights), the tribes typically transferred their traditional lands to
the United States government but "reserved" part of their lands for tribal
purposes. These "reserved" lands became known as "reservations." Later,
many "reservations" were created by presidential executive orders or by
congressional enactments. As defined by 18 USC n51(a), "Indian country"
consists of all land within a reservation including land that is privately owned
and land that is subject to a right-of-way (for example, a publicly accessible
road). However, some reservations have been "disestablished" or nullified
by such things as federal court decisions or later congressional enactments.
- Informal Reservations. If a reservation has been disestablished or
if the legal existence of a reservation is not clear, remaining trust lands that
have been set aside for Indian use are still Indian country (Oklahoma Tax
Commission v. Chickasaw Nation, 515 US 450 and Oklahoma Tax Com
mission v. Sac & Fox Nation, 508 US n4).
- Dependent Indian communities (18 USC n51(b)). In US v. Sandoval
(23 1 US 28) the US Supreme Court ruled that pueblo tribal lands in New
Mexico are "Indian country" and in US v. McGowan (302 US 535) the
Court ruled that Indian colonies in Nevada are also "Indian country." The
results of these decisions were later codified at 18 USC n51(b) as "depen
dent Indian communities." The Court has interpreted "dependent Indian
communities" to be land that is federally supervised and which has been set
aside for the use oflndians, Alaska v. Native Village ofVenetie (522 US 520).
- Allotments (18 USC n51(c)). Primarily from 1887 until 1934, the
federal government ran programs where some parcels of tribal trust land
were allotted or assigned to particular Indian persons or particular Indian
families (but further transfers were to be temporarily restricted by the fed
eral government). Some of these allotments were later converted to private
ownership. However, when the allotment programs were frozen by con
gressional enactment in 1934, many parcels of land were still in restricted
or trust status; these remaining parcels are "Indian country" even if they
are no longer within a reservation.
- Special Designations. Congress can specially designate that certain
lands are Indian country for jurisdictional purposes even if those lands
might not fall within one of the categories mentioned above. An example
of this is Santa Fe Indian School in Santa Fe, New Mexico (Public Law
106-568, section 824(c)) (O'Brien).
"What Is Indian Country?," Indian Country Criminal Jurisdiction, http://
tribaljurisdiction.tripod.com/id7.html (accessed September 25, 2013).
- Grenier, First Way of War, 5, 10. See also Kaplan, "Prologue: Injun Coun
try," in Imperial Grunts, 3-16; and Cohen, Conquered into Liberty.
