1831: Supreme Court rules Indian nations not subject to state law

The second of three court cases (the “Marshall Trilogy”) that become the foundation of American Indian law is decided. The case involves whether state law can apply to a Native nation. In Georgia, the state has been steadily moving onto Cherokee Nation lands, trying to impose state laws on the tribe. Despite Cherokee efforts to halt these acts, Georgia refuses to stop. In Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, Chief Justice John Marshall finds that the Cherokee Nation is not a foreign nation as originally defined under the U.S. Constitution’s Commerce Clause but is instead a “domestic dependent nation,” under the protection of the federal government. State laws therefore cannot be imposed on the tribe.

The Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, Article 1, Section 8, reads: “The Congress shall have power to ... regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes ...” Other cases in the “Marshall Trilogy” are Johnson v. McIntosh (1823) and Worcester v. Georgia (1832).

Theme

Federal-Tribal Relations

Region

California, Great Basin, Great Plains, Northeast, Northwest Coast, Plateau, Southeast, Southwest