"Complaints about the American Indian run tobacco shop in Cloverdale have added fuel to a national controversy over the operation of smoke shops by Indian tribes and the taxes that they may or may not mandate.

A key perspective on this issue is rooted in the concepts of tribal sovereignty, government-to-government relations and the federal-tribal trust relationship.

Complaining about the taxation policies set forth by Indian tribal governments on federal trust land is like complaining about the policies of neighboring states. California sales tax and voter-approved propositions regarding tobacco are, albeit important revenue streams for the state's general fund and a variety of programs, not applicable to neighboring states and should not apply to tribes.

The concept of tribal sovereignty is similar to that of sovereign nations, which have the right to make laws, define territory, determine citizenship and form alliances with other nations through treaties.

Indian law in the United States is not based on ethnicity but on the political relationship between the U.S. government and federally recognized tribes. The U.S. Constitution recognizes tribal sovereignty by directing the federal government, rather than the states, to conduct official relations with American Indian nations."

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Kyle H. Nelson: Tribal sovereignty and Cloverdale's tobacco shop (The Santa Rosa Press-Democrat 1/10)