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Overview
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If you're from the Southwest or familiar with tourist campaigns from the area, you
can easily recognize (and probaly hum) the commercial jingle:
Gallup, New Mexico...The Heart of Indian Country...Truth
be told,
there are many hearts throughout all of Indian Country, as the
definition of Indian Country encompasses the reservations and boundaries
of the many tribes of the US.
Simply put, as defined in 18 USC 1151, Indian Country is land wherever there are Native nations,
bands, tribes, reservations, communities, or individuals. The key factor is
federal recognition of such land. Indian Country cannot be an apartment complex
in the middle of Gallup which happens to be occupied by a community of Indians, however
interesting such a scenario might be.
The definition of Indian Country is important for reasons of
jurisdiction. Not
only do tribes want to maintain control over their defined boundaries but jurisdiction
is important to local, state, and the federal government, because it
determines where adjudication of crimes, disputes, and other legal matters occur.
A host of complexities affect jurisdiction in Indian Country: race/ethnicity of
parties involved, criminal (misdemeanor or non-misdemeanor) offense, civil matter,
and the "checkerboard" pattern of Indian owned and non-Indian owned parcels of land
present on many reservations due to the General Allotment Act of 1877
(Ch. 119, 24 Stat 388, codified as 25 USC 331-358 (1970)).
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Primary Materials
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Indian Country
The statutory definition of Indian Country in 18 USC 1151.
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