I was thinking the other day about the status of the various Native American tribes within the USA and their sovereignty.

I read several articles online and found various opinions but, they all boil down to the tribes have a status that is subject to the US legislature (and not the executive) at a federal level only. The individual states that make up the Union do not have authority over the tribes except for those covered by Public Law 280 (namely: California, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oregon and Alaska).

However, I’m not clear on what exactly is their status. What would be their European historical equivalent (if any)?

Quickly what comes to mind in Europe of the middle ages would be the church.  Also, in the Holy Roman Empire privilages held by some cities.  In the later Roman Empire you could look to similar legal status given to the Gothic tribes and others within Roman provinces.

kimon;87672 wrote:

However, I’m not clear on what exactly is their status. What would be their European historical equivalent (if any)?

Perhaps the Emirate of Buhkara within the Russian Empire during the years 1873-1917; the Sultanate of Rwanda as a self governing part of German East Africa (1885-1916). The Åland Islands as part of Finland 1920 to the present and Éire during those akward years of 1922-1937.