On July 26, 1776, James Wilson, Pennsylvania delegate to the Continental Congress, argued for a unified national approach to Indian affairs: No lasting peace will be [made] with the Indians, unless made by some one body…. Indians know the striking benefits of confederation; they have an example of it in the union of the Six Nations…. None should trade with the Indians without a license from Congress. A perpetual war would be unavoidable…. Journals of the Continental Congress , 1774-1789, vol. 6 [1776], 1906, pp. 1077-79. General George Washington and the Framers of the Constitution empowered the United States of America, the National Government, to make treaties between nations, and “to regulate commerce … with the Indian Tribes.” In 1790, President Washington entered into the Treaty with the Creek Nation, the first Treaty under the Constitution of the United States, which serves as a model for the ratification of all subsequent treaties, Indian and international. The United States entered into more than 375 treaties with Indian Nations, which the U.S. Constitution in the Supremacy Clause establishes as among the Supreme Law of the Land. The Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act establishes the definitive list of Indian tribes recognized by the United States. The 1994 List Act provides: "the list of federally r cognized tribes which the Secretary publishes should reflect all of the federally recog ized Indian tribes in the United States whic are eligible for the special programs and services provided by the United States to Indians because of their status as Indians." Pub. L. 103-454, Title I, § 103, 108 Stat. 4791 (Nov. 2, 1994), codified at 25 U.S.C. § 5130 note. Historically, most Indian Nations and tribes were recognized by treaty, statute, Executive Order, or court decision. Since the 1970s, the BIA has also recognized Indian tribes through the Federal Acknowledgement Process, and Congress has recognized Indian tribes by statute. Prior to the BIA’s current misguided policy announcement about ANC eligibility, the BIA explained, “federally recognized tribes are recognized as possessing certain inherent rights of self-government (i.e., tribal sovereignty) and are entitled to receive certain federal benefits, services, and protections because of their special relationship with the United States. At present, there are 573 federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribes and villages.” Since 1994, only Indian Nations and tribes with “inherent rights of self-government’ have been recognized on the Secretary’s List of Federally Recognized Indian Tribes, such as Indian Nations and tribes, Pueblos, Confederated Tribes, and Alaska Native villages. On January 30, 2020, Interior published the Federal government’s annual list of federally- recognized Indian Tribes. Alaska Native villages are on the list because they are “Indian tribes.” Alaska Native Corporations are not listed as Federally Recognized Indian tribes because ANCs are for-profit state corporations, not Indian tribes or Tribal Governments. From the start, ANCs rejected sovereign status as Indian tribes. In the late 1960s, when oil
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