Summary
You've heard of federal, state, and local governments. But what about tribal governments? They make the laws on Native American reservations: land belonging to and governed by Native American nations. The nations are sovereign, or independent—which is why tribal law might be different from the laws in the surrounding state. There are more than 300 reservations within U.S. borders, and they're as different as the nations that inhabit them: from the desert landscapes of Navajo Nation to the rainy cities of the Puyallup Indian Reservation. When European colonists first arrived in North America, Native American nations had sovereignty over the whole continent. As the United States expanded west, hundreds of treaties with Native nations paved the way to create the 50 states we have today. The treaties also reserved portions of the land for Native nations, who kept their sovereignty on those reservations. Additional treaty rights protected certain ways of life, even off the reservation. Over the years, the U.S. grew in strength and often violated the treaties it signed. But in the 1970s, things began to change. Some land has been returned, and tribal leaders have won major victories in federal court—including a landmark decision in 2020. Press "play" to learn about the unique status of Native nations in the United States!
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Teaching resources
Discussion questions
A few questions to talk through after watching Reservations:
- What is one new thing you learned about reservations?
- Can you explain it to a partner in your own words?
- Where might you see this in the real world?
- What is one question you still have?
Quick work-a-long
Try it:
- Write one sentence explaining reservations.
- Draw or give one example of your own.