TREATIES were the means that Europeans and Americans used to secure alliances with, and most often acquire land from, Native Americans. Although historians disagree about the number of treaties enacted between 1492 and 1871 they may well number in the thousands.  In the 1540s, Spanish cleric Francisco de Vitoria convinced the Spanish that Natives were human and should be treated with respect leading to the introduction of a treaty system. France followed Spain’s lead and began negotiating trade agreements with Native groups in North America in order to ensure their access to the fur trade of the Great lakes region. The Dutch also used treaties to gain access to the western fur trade.  During the eighteenth century, England began to rely more on diplomacy and treaties as a way to expand their empire and mercantile systems.  

During the 19^th century more and more treaties were signed which ceded millions of acres of land in the Northwest and Southeast. In the 1809 Treaty of Fort Wayne, Native Americans ceded to the United States 3 million acres of land in Illinois and Indiana in return for $7,000 up front and $1,750 yearly.  In 1830 , President Andrew Jackson urged Congress to pass the Indian Removal Bill, which gave the federal government authority to negotiate with tribes for their removal to the West. Cherokees tried to fight the bill in court, with The Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831) and Worcester v. Georgia (1832). Although the cases were unsuccessful the Supreme Court decisions established two principles that would guide treaty making in the future. First, the Court noted that the sovereignty of the United States could not be compromised and that treaties with tribes were not the same as treaties with foreign governments. Second, Justice John Marshall insisted that treaties were instruments of federal power and that the states could not interfere with their implementation. Expansion westward and the signing of new treaties continued to erode the land of Native Americans through the mid-19^th century.

The U.S. government abandoned treaty making with Indians in 1871.  Angered that the Executive Branch and Senate had never placed many Indian cessions into the public domain, the House of Representatives attached a rider to an Indian Office appropriations bill abolishing treaties. The bill became law. It did not nullify existing treaties, however, and it did not end the practice of negotiating agreements with tribes.

TRIBAL TRUST LAND is defined as land held by the federal government in a trust status for the benefit of current and future generations of tribal members. Trust lands were created in the late 1800s, following the 1870 law that prohibited new treaty making. The concept of trust land is based on the US government perception that they needed to take care of the land for Native Americans. They believed that Native people could not adequately care for the land.   Therefore, ownership remained with the Federal government, but was held in “trust” for a particular band or tribe.  Approximately 56.2 million acres of land are held in trust by the United States for various Indian tribes and individuals. Much of this is reservation land; however, not all reservation land is trust land. Most often this land is within the boundaries of a reservation. Trust status means that the land falls under tribal government authority and is generally not subject to state laws. Trust status also creates limitations on the use of the land and requires federal approval for most actions.

The legal concept of sovereignty has been challenged over the years beginning in the 1820s. At that time, Chief Justice John Marshall created the Marshall Trilogy, which held that every treaty ratified by the U.S. Senate under Article VI, Clause 2 of the Constitution was now the "supreme law of the land." Sovereignty, explained Marshall, exists as a pre-condition among self-governing entities and acts as a legal shield protecting all rights and privileges reserved and implied by nationhood. In fact, treaties were the granting of rights from the [Indian nations] to the federal government. President Andrew Jackson vehemently disagreed with Marshall’s ruling.  Under his presidency, thousands of Cherokee died on the Trail of Tears. After the Battle of Wounded Knee in 1890, many people believed that the American Indian would be a vanquished race by the end of the 19^th century. Because of this belief lawmakers assumed there would be no long-term consequences of any dealings they made with the Native nations. Today, Native American nations have acquired the cash and legal backing (there are more than 2000 Native lawyers in the US) to challenge states when the states attempt to override Native sovereignty. Marshall’s Trilogy continues to be upheld in most cases.