no.1..  Where Does Sovereignty Rest In America ?


By: John A Fleming
Most, if not all, of the Indian tribes in our country claim to possess 
sovereignty as a tribe. This is both untrue and not possible under our U.S. 
Constitution and the Constitutions of the several States.

Today, and indeed since the Indian Citizenship Act of June 2, 1924, which gave 
the then non-citizen Indians (mostly tribal members) citizenship by birth, all 
American Indians are citizens of the United States of America and of the state 
that they individually lived in. They each, as well as all other citizens of the 
United States, posses the attribute of sovereignty that is given to each citizen 
of our country by the Constitution of the United States. Sovereignty in our 
nation belongs to the citizens. It does not rest in the state capitals, nor in 
the federal government at our national capital, Washington D.C. .Our sovereignty 
is not vested in a king, a dictator, a president, nor in elected position of the 
various states or federal government, and indeed---not in tribes. In short, when 
our thirteen colonies/states came together and decided to unite, they declared 
and established a number of principles and rules to include the following,-- 
*    Sovereignty will rest with the citizens
*    Majority rules
*    Through the Articles of Confederation and then the Constitution, they 
needed and established a national government to do limited national activities 
with enumerated powers only
*    Through these Articles and then the Constitution, they assured the rights 
of the sovereign and independent several states, the freedom, liberty and 
certain other of the individual citizens rights, and placed fixed limitations 
upon the federal government
*    They established a method to change the Constitution.

Indians and their tribes were not only considered but they were mentioned in the 
primary documents that established our nation. The tribes were not given a place 
in our federal system of government. The Tenth Amendment of our Constitution 
specifically provides guidance on this matter and tribes are not included in the 
distribution of power(to govern). Read it, perhaps you should reacquaint 
yourself with these documents. The Declaration of Independence gives a good idea 
of how our forefather thought of the Indians at that time in our history. Treaty 
after treaty stipulate that the tribes will obey the Constitution and the acts 
of Congress. Supreme Court cases abound with the clear facts that the tribes 
were no longer sovereign but bound to the Constitutional requirements and the 
will of Congress. Battle after battle defeated the Indian tribes resulting in 
the tribes being conquered, subjugated and actually subordinated to the will of 
this nation.

Here is another myth---the Indian Industry(movement) has for decades been trying 
very hard to make American citizens in general feel guilty for what "they " did 
to "them". It doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out that the pillage, rape, 
theft, cheating, steeling of property, fighting, killing and hurting of people, 
that effected Indians and their tribes also effected the common citizen and 
other immigrants that moved to the west or lived in the west--- the rancher, the 
farmer, the Mexican property owners and or residence of the southwest, just to 
mention a few categories. People of all colors, races, and religions, NOT JUST 
INDIANS, were effected by the lawlessness, wild and uncontrolled criminal 
activity during this time in our history. The cause was equally as clear. Both 
levels of Constitutional governments( states/territorial-to include local-and 
federal)were small, very limited and unprepared for such a massive and rapidly 
moving force as the migration of peoples to the west. The damage being created 
by the continuing of this myth, the guilt complex placed upon "whites" by 
disinformation stemming from the Indian industry, is growing and may well damage 
many of the good things that industry has accomplished.

Tribal sovereignty is a myth. American citizens of all racial backgrounds and 
differing political and religious beliefs individually possess the attribute of 
sovereignty.

Author's Notice: Since I put out the article on the Indian Industry, I have had 
a number of requests for information regarding how to order the book. The book 
itself has a page re how to order....it says order by calling 1-800-663-5714, 
with a price of $19.95 plus$3.00 for shipping. I think that is Canadian and also 
that they take Visa etc. . Otherwise try Waldens. The book is published by Book 
Express(Raincoast Books),8680 Cambie St, Vancouver, BC V6P 6M9. That tel no. is 
current. You may wish to edit that posting with some part of that information. 
Just a thought. Again, thanks for your consideration, JAF

Submitted By John A. Fleming
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Article posted: Wednesday, September 01, 1999 

Copyright © 1999 All rights for republication revert to the original author.