Native American land laws are a disaster, and it’s not their fault. It’s a large contributor to poverty as well. I’m still not sure if that was an unintended or intended consequence of US govt treaties.
I was thinking the same thing, if what the court was saying was that the land has always been a reservation, then, uh, get ready for the mother of all tax refunds.
For a few things, it really is like being in another country. Some tribes used to require you to pay traffic tickets on the spot, because they had no legal recourse once you left the reservation.
Guess how I know...
And yea, there are even fairly recent cases even saying States can't collect road taxes on trucks driving between reservations, on state highways.
Taxes are one of the clearest exemptions spelled out not just in the treaties, but in the actual US Constitution.
Native americans do pay the same federal income tax as everyone else. Tribes don't pay federal tax. If you live on a reservation, you generally don't pay state income tax. It is kinda complicated.
If it was legally owned by the tribe it would still run into issues with violating local state laws for any loans issues outside of tribal territories.
You seem to be assuming that something is right because it is the law. I'm inclined to question that assumption.
I could also make the usual snarky comment and say that by the letter of the "law" we owe native americans a whole bunch of land. Maybe even the land your house is on.
Do you live in the U.S.? If so, it's likely that any property that you or you employer own was also taken from the Indians at some point. Maybe your ancestors even lived off slave labor. Are you offering to give back your own ill-gotten wealth?
If reservations weren't US land - and if you're making treaties with the owners then it's at least sort of "not US land" - then they weren't born in the country.
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