[music] Narrator: In addition to being members of ethnic minority groups, American Indian individuals are also members of tribes. And Indian Tribes are political groups ruled by their own government. [music] Dr. Spilde: Because so many people do not have a background in Indian history, Indian policy; we are not taught this in our high schools or even in college courses. Indian Tribes are governments. And I think even understanding that basic fact is difficult. Narrator: As a matter of fact, tribal governments are one of the four types of federally recognized governments in the United States. These are city governments, county governments, state governments, and tribal governments. Legitimate governments rule on the basis of their sovereignty. So, what is sovereignty and how does this concept relate to tribes? Sovereignty is the internationally recognized power of a nation to govern itself and Indian tribes existed as sovereign governments long before Europeans settled here. Narrator: Treaties between European powers and later, the United States, formalized a nation-to-nation relationship between these powers and Indian tribes. Even the US constitution recognizes Indian tribes as distinct governments. Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution specifies that congress shall regulate commerce with and enter into treaties with foreign nations and with Indian tribes. [music] During the 1800s, the rights of individual Indians and their governments were put to the test in the US legal system. Three supreme court decisions from that time period serve as a cornerstone for understanding the sovereign status of Indian nations. [music] The powers and rights discussed here only apply to federally recognized tribes. Many groups and subgroups of Indians exist in the US boundaries, but not all have established their own independent relationship to the federal government, which maintains a specific set of criteria used to determine if a tribe falls into the nation-to-nation relationship. [music] When it comes to managing tribal casinos, each tribe operates its own gaming enterprise in a way that works best for them. Some manage their gaming property themselves, while others contract with outside management or gaming corporations to manage their casinos. In any case, the tribe always makes the final decisions. Indian gaming is subject to more stringent regulation and security controls than any other type of gaming in the United States. I.G.R.A - the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act sets out the procedures and levels of this regulation. The first level is the tribal level. Each tribe has its own independent tribal gaming commission to watch over operations within their tribe. The next level is state through what is known as the Tribal-State Compacts. Finally, there is federal regulation through the national Indian Gaming Commission and federal agencies, such as the Department of Justice, The Treasury Department, and the Department of the Interior. Ernie: It goes back to the beginning of time when Indian people hold each other accountable, and we have a real strong ability to do that. So, in the bottom line, we have to be accountable to our membership, and our membership demands accountability and integrity. [music] Narrator: In summary, we can say that the US government recognizes American Indian tribes as domestic sovereign, nations that possess self-government. Tribes have a nation-to-nation relationship with the US federal government, and state governments generally do not have powers within reservations. [music]