Resources Secretary Announces Tribal Consultation Policy

Gov. Brown authorizes California's first off-reservation tribal casinos

Calif. American Indian tribe (Karuk) gets casino approval (Yreka); Karuk casino OKed for Yreka; Tribe receives approval to build casino; Karuk Tribe Gets Federal Approval for Yreka Casino; Guest Opinion: Karuk gaming ordinance approval unacceptable

BACKGROUND & RESOURCES

1995 list of Federally Recognized Tribes

A General California History ;
Historical Sketch of the California Indians

Shasta Indians - Territory; Treaty R

PL 280

Study on Indian-White Relationships in Northern California 1849-1920

United States CodeTITLE 25 - INDIANS

California's Salmon and Steelhead (Early Indian Fishery)

Trust Responsibility

Yurok; Hoopa; Karuk; Shasta;   Klamath

Solicitor's Opinions

The Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Federal Trust Obligation to American Indians - Robert McCarthy

UCLA Report "A Second Century of Dishonor"; UCLA American Indian Studies Center

Indian Affairs Laws & Treaties Compiled by Charles J. Kappler

The McCarrin Amendment and the Administrtaion of Tribal Reserved Water Rights  Jay F. Stein Simms & STein, P.A. Santa Fe, New Mexico

The Federal Trust Responsibility In A Self-Determination Era by Lynn H. Slade of Modrall, Sperling, Roehl, Harris & Sisk, P.A.

          Indian Records and Geneology

          Pre-Contact map of Indian territory

          Indian Law (Cornell)

Native American Law and Constitution Digitization Project

Indian Reserved Water Rights: An Overview (CRS)

***********The Federal Government has a trust responsibility to federally recognized Indian tribes that arises from Indian treaties, statutes, Executive orders, and the historical relations between the United States and Indian tribes. While the exact legal boundaries of the Federal trust responsibility have not been fully defined, the trust responsibility consists of general and specific components (although the line between these two components is not always clear).

The general component of the trust responsibility relates to the United States' unique legal and political relationship with federally recognized Indian tribes. It informs Federal policy and provides that the Federal Government consult with and consider the interests of the tribes when taking actions that may affect tribes or their resources. Courts have not required particular procedures, but generally have looked to see whether Federal agencies have sought the views of tribes and considered their interests. The general trust provides one basis for the legal principle that ambiguities or doubts in statutes must be construed in favor of Indians.

The specific component of the trust responsibility ordinarily arises only from a formal action of the United States such as a statute, treaty, or Executive order. The trust is a fiduciary relationship when Congress directs a Federal agency to manage resources such as timber or lands for the benefit of tribes.