Tribal-State compacts

Tribal-State compacts

Tribal-State Compacts are declared necessary for any Class III gaming on reservations under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 (IGRA). They were designed to allow tribal and state governments to come to a "business" agreement. A compact can be thought of as "negotiated agreement between two political entities that resolves questions of overlapping jurisdictional responsibilities [Witmer, Corntassel. Forced Federalism: Contemporary Challenges to Indigenous Nationhood. Volume 3 of American Indian Law and Policy Series. University of Oklahoma Press, 2006 (110-111).] It is important to note that compacts affect the delicate power balance between states, federal, and tribal governments. Thus, it is understandable that the IGRA provides very detailed instructions for how states and tribes can make compacts cooperatively and also details the instructions for how the federal government can regulate such agreements. [Haugen, David M. Legalized Gambling. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2006 (235).]

The IGRA of 1988 and Tribal-State Compacts

In section 3A of this act includes specific instructions for the process of developing a tribal-state compact. Tribes are expected to request a compact with states if they should desire to have Class III gaming (States have no jurisdiction over Class I and II gambling). Following such a request, states are required to enter negotiations and deal with the tribes in "good faith". The original text of the act implied that if states tried to "stone-wall" tribal gambling, the tribes could look to the federal courts for support [Haugen, David M. Legalized Gambling. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2006. (44-45)] But while the IGRA is giving states unprecedented influence on tribal economic concerns, it also seeks to maintain the federal government as the "guardian" of the tribes. Accordingly, section 3B maintains the power of the federal government in this aspect. No compact will be valid until the Secretary of the Interior has entered the compact into the Federal registry. Also, tribes who feel that a state is not negotiating in "good faith" have the right to sue the states in federal court.
The topics that compacts may cover include provisions relating to criminal/civil laws of the tribe or state in relation to the gambling activity, the allocation of court jurisdiction between the State and Indian tribe necessary to enforce these laws, money the State should receive to defray the costs of regulating the gambling, and any other such subjects directly related to the operation of gaming activities. It also specifies that Indian tribe shall have the right to regulate gaming concurrently with the state, unless some aspect of the compact is broken.
The text of the IGRA takes specific notice of the fact that the text is not "conferring upon a State or any of its political subdivisions the authority to impose any taxes, fee, charge, or other assessment upon a Indian tribe. This reference indicates that the Congress realized it was not following the norm of trbial governments operating independently of states. [Haugen, David M. Legalized Gambling. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2006. (235-237)]

Federal Activity Affecting IGRA


The compacts between states and tribes have caused a great deal of controversy and the original definition of Tribal-State Compacts has been redefined by several court cases and congressional acts. This section will address the more prominent actions that have refined the methods of establishing Tribal-State compacts.

eminole Tribe v Florida (1996)


In this case, the Supreme Court ruled that tribes did not have the authority to sue states in federal courts. The court cited the Eleventh amendment- which grants states immunity from lawsuits put forth by states or citizens or subjects of other states- to declare that Congress lacked the power to abrogate this immunity under the IGRA. [Canby, William C. American Indian Law in a Nutshell. St. Paul, MN: West, 2004.(314)] This case essentially put Native Americans at the mercy of states when it came to bringing about a compact for Class III gambling. It also gave state's the ability to take advantage of tribes and hold out for compacts that give very large percentages of the earnings of any gambling ventures. [Ashley, Jeffrey S, and Secody J Hubbard. Negotiated Sovereignty: Working to Improve Tribal-State Relations. Westport, CT: Praegar Publishers, 2004. (34)] -- () 13:44, 1 October 2008 (UTC)

Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1998

Panzer v. Doyle

-- () 13:14, 1 October 2008 (UTC)

The Balance between Federal, State, and Tribal government


Tribal-State compacts are an interesting study of tribal sovereignty. American government has long operated under the legacy of "Worchester" which implied that tribal governments did not have to answer to state governments, but rather federal government alone [Canby, William C. American Indian Law in a Nutshell. St. Paul, MN: West, 2004. (17)] . Yet, by incorporating these compacts, the IGRA seems to be illustrating a contemporary move towards devolution in some expert's opinions [Witmer, Corntassel. Forced Federalism: Contemporary Challenges to Indigenous Nationhood. Volume 3 of American Indian Law and Policy Series. University of Oklahoma Press,2006.(17)] . Compacts do require that tribes cede some jurisdictional powers to state governments. -- () 11:59, 1 October 2008 (UTC)


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Alabama (people) — The Alabama or Alibamu ( Albaamaha in the Alabama language) are a Southeastern culture people of Native Americans.The Alabama language is part of the Muskogean language family, as is the language of the Creek and Choctaw people, with whom the… …   Wikipedia

  • Native American gaming — enterprises are gaming businesses operated on Indian reservations or tribal land in the United States. Indian tribes have limited sovereignty over these businesses and therefore are granted the ability to establish gambling enterprises outside of …   Wikipedia

  • Indian Gaming Regulatory Act — The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (USPL|100|497, UnitedStatesCode |25|2701 et seq. ) is a 1988 United States federal law which establishes the jurisdictional framework that presently governs Indian gaming. The law established the National Indian… …   Wikipedia

  • Native American gambling enterprises — Indian Gaming enterprises comprise gambling businesses operated on Indian reservations or tribal land, which have limited sovereignty and therefore the ability to exist outside of direct state regulation.In 1987, in a case called Cabazon Band of… …   Wikipedia

  • List of California ballot propositions 2000–2009 — List of California ballot propositions: 2000 2009ElectionsMarch 7, 2000*1A Passed Gambling on Tribal Lands. Legislative Constitutional Amendment. *12 Passed Safe Neighborhood Parks, Clean Water, Clean Air, and Coastal Protection Bond Act of 2000 …   Wikipedia

  • List of California ballot propositions 1990–1999 — List of California ballot propositions: 1990 1999See also: List of California ballot propositions 1980 1989, List of California ballot propositions 2000–2009ElectionsJune 5, 1990*107 Passed Housing And Homeless Bond Act Of 1990. *108 Passed… …   Wikipedia

  • native American — native American, adj. a person born in the United States. [1835 45, Amer.] * * * ▪ indigenous peoples of Canada and United States Introduction also called  American Indian,  Amerindian,  Amerind,  Indian,  Aboriginal American,  or  First Nation… …   Universalium

  • Native American — Indian (def. 1). Usage. See Indian, Eskimo. * * * ▪ indigenous peoples of Canada and United States Introduction also called  American Indian,  Amerindian,  Amerind,  Indian,  Aboriginal A …   Universalium

  • Cherokee trail of tears — The Cherokee Trail of Tears (also called the trail of Indian tears) refers to the forced relocation in 1838 of the Cherokee Nation from their lands in Georgia to the Indian Territory (present day Oklahoma) in the Western United States, which… …   Wikipedia

  • gaming, Indian — ▪ gambling Introduction  in the United States, gambling enterprises that are owned by federally recognized Native American tribal governments and that operate on reservation or other tribal lands. Indian gaming includes a range of business… …   Universalium

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”