THE MATTER THAT BRINGS US HERE TODAY IS THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE INDIAN NATIONS.

LONG BEFORE THE FIRST IMMIGRANTS SET FOOT ON THE SHORES OF AMERICA, THE INDIAN TRIBES EXERCISED DOMINION AND CONTROL OVER FIVE HUNDRED AND FIFTY MILLION ACRES OF LAND.

THEIR SOVEREIGNTY WAS RECOGNIZED BY THOSE WHO CAME HERE.

THEY WERE CALLED UPON TO ASSIST THE AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY TROOPS IN THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE, AND WITHOUT THEIR VOLUNTARY PROVISION OF FOOD TO THE STARVING MEN, GENERAL GEORGE WASHINGTON AND HIS TROOPS WOULD NOT HAVE SURVIVED THAT FIRST HARSH WINTER AT VALLEY FORGE.

THE DEBATES OF THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS INSTRUCT US THAT OUR FOUNDING FATHERS GAVE MUCH CONSIDERATION TO THE MANNER IN WHICH OUR NEW NATION WOULD CONDUCT RELATIONS WITH THE INDIAN TRIBES.

ULTIMATELY, THEY CHOSE THE TIME-HONORED MEANS THAT SOVEREIGN GOVERNMENTS HAD RELATED TO ONE ANOTHER IN INTERNATIONAL ARENAS -- AND TREATIES WERE ENTERED INTO WITH THE INDIAN NATIONS.

THESE TREATIES TYPICALLY CONTAINED LANGUAGE OF RATHER BEAUTIFUL IMAGERY.

AND AS A MEANS OF EXPRESSING THAT THE COMMITMENTS MADE IN THE TREATIES WERE TO BE HONORED IN PERPETUITY, THERE WERE PROVISIONS WHICH MADE CLEAR THAT THE TREATIES WOULD LAST --

"AS LONG AS THE SUN RISES IN THE EAST AND SETS IN THE WEST" -- OR "AS LONG AS THE RIVERS FLOW FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA".

ULTIMATELY, THE UNITED STATES ENTERED INTO OVER EIGHT HUNDRED TREATIES WITH THE INDIAN NATIONS.

SADLY, FOUR HUNDRED AND THIRTY OF THOSE TREATIES WERE NEVER RATIFIED BY MY PREDECESSORS IN THE SENATE -- EVEN THOUGH WE EXPECTED AND DEMANDED THAT THE INDIANS ABIDE BY THE TERMS OF THOSE UNRATIFIED TREATIES.

OF THE THREE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY TREATIES THAT WERE RATIFIED BY THE UNITED STATES SENATE, WE -- THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES -- PROCEEDED TO VIOLATE PROVISIONS IN EVERY ONE OF THEM.

AGAIN, HOWEVER, WE HELD THE INDIAN TRIBES TO THE COMMITMENTS THEY MADE IN THOSE TREATIES -- WE INSISTED THAT THEY RELINQUISH THEIR ABORIGINAL TITLE TO THEIR TRADITIONAL LANDS AND FORCIBLY REMOVED THEM FROM THEIR HOMELANDS.

MOST AMERICANS KNOW VERY LITTLE ABOUT THESE CHAPTERS IN OUR HISTORY.

FOR INSTANCE, WHILE SOME MAY KNOW THAT THERE WAS A CHEROKEE TRAIL OF TEARS -- MOST DON'T KNOW THAT THERE WERE MANY TRAILS OF TEARS -- THAT OUR GOVERNMENT COMPELLED TRIBAL PEOPLE TO WALK FOR THOUSANDS OF MILES -- OFTEN BAREFOOTED AND WITHOUT ADEQUATE PROTECTION FROM WINTER STORMS.

AS COULD BE EXPECTED, THOUSANDS DIED ALONG THE WAY.

AND WHILE OKLAHOMA BECAME KNOWN AS ONE OF THE GREAT "DUMPING" GROUNDS FOR INDIANS -- MANY TRIBAL GROUPS WERE FORCIBLY REMOVED AGAIN AND AGAIN, UNTIL THE GOVERNMENT SETTLED THEM ON RESERVATIONS -- PRINCIPALLY IN THE WESTERN STATES.

OVER THE NEXT ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS, OUR FEDERAL POLICY WAS CHARACTERIZED BY RADICAL VACILLATIONS.

AT ONE TIME, IT WAS THE FORMAL POLICY OF OUR GOVERNMENT TO EXTERMINATE THE INDIANS.

THIS WAS THE ERA KNOWN AS THE INDIAN WARS.

THEN CAME THE TREATY MAKING PERIOD AND THE SETTLEMENT OF INDIANS ONTO RESERVATIONS.

LATER, APPROACHING THE TURN OF THE LAST CENTURY, A DECISION WAS MADE IN WASHINGTON TO "CIVILIZE" THE INDIANS BY BREAKING UP THE RESERVATIONS, ALLOTTING THE LAND TO INDIVIDUALS, AND MAKING THE REST AVAILABLE FOR SETTLEMENT BY NON-INDIANS.

TAKEN TOGETHER, THE TREATIES AND THE ALLOTMENT ACTS RESULTED IN THE LOSS OF FIVE HUNDRED MILLION ACRES OF LAND TO THE INDIANS.

TODAY, TRIBAL GOVERNMENTS EXERCISE JURISDICTION OVER WHAT IS LEFT -- APPROXIMATELY FIFTY MILLION ACRES OF LAND -- AND THOSE THAT CAN AFFORD TO DO SO, ARE, UNDERSTANDABLY, SEEKING TO REACQUIRE A SMALL PORTION OF THOSE LANDS WHICH WERE LOST TO THEM AS A RESULT OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND ACTIONS.

IN THE 1930's, OUR NATION ONCE AGAIN CHANGED COURSE, AND AGAIN, IT WAS DECIDED IN WASHINGTON THAT OUR GOVERNMENT SHOULD ENCOURAGE THE REORGANIZATION OF TRIBAL GOVERNMENTS AND TRIBAL COMMUNITIES.

WE GAVE THEM BOILERPLATE LANGUAGE TO INCORPORATE IN TRIBAL CONSTITUTIONS, AND PERHAPS NOT SURPRISINGLY, THOSE PROVISIONS RETAINED THE STRINGS OF FEDERAL CONTROL OVER THE DAILY LIVES OF MOST INDIAN PEOPLE.

THEN IN THE 50's, WE MADE YET ANOTHER SHIFT IN FEDERAL POLICY -- THIS TIME, THE OFFICIAL POLICY WAS TO BRING AN END TO THE FEDERAL-INDIAN RELATIONSHIP BY TERMINATING THE TRIBES FROM FEDERAL RECOGNITION OF THEIR SOVEREIGNTY.

AND FINALLY, IN THE 1970's, PRESIDENT RICHARD NIXON ANNOUNCED THE POLICY THAT CONTINUES TO THIS DAY -- THE FEDERAL POLICY OF TRIBAL SELF-DETERMINATION AND INDIAN SELF-GOVERNANCE.

THIS IS THE TORTURED COURSE OF EVENTS AND POLICIES BY WHICH THE UNITED STATES HAS CHOSEN TO RECOGNIZE THE SOVEREIGNTY OF TRIBAL GOVERNMENTS.

INTERNATIONALLY, OUR NATION MAY BE CONSIDERED TO BE ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL FORCES ON THIS PLANET, BUT IT IS A TESTAMENT TO THE PERSEVERANCE OF THE NATIVE PEOPLE OF THIS LAND THAT THEY HAVE WITHSTOOD OUR BEST EFFORTS TO WIPE THEM OUT.

THEIR SOVEREIGNTY IS STILL VERY MUCH INTACT.

ANTHROPOLIGISTS TELL US THAT THERE MAY HAVE BEEN AS MANY AS FIFTY MILLION INDIGENOUS PEOPLE ON THIS CONTINENT AT THE TIME OF THE FIRST CONTACT WITH EUROPEANS.

THE ERA OF THE INDIAN WARS, COUPLED WITH DISEASES, REDUCED THOSE NUMBERS DOWN TO 250,000.

TODAY, THE POPULATION OF INDIAN COUNTRY -- AT TWO MILLION AND GROWING -- IS THE FASTEST GROWING POPULATION IN THE UNITED STATES.

TODAY, INDIAN PEOPLE ARE NO LONGER CAPTIVES OF A FEDERAL BUREAUCRACY, AND TRIBAL GOVERNMENTS ARE DYNAMIC EXPRESSIONS OF THE CHALLENGES THAT ALL MODERN GOVERNMENTS MUST FACE IN ADDRESSING THE NEEDS OF THEIR CITIZENS.

NONETHELESS, IT IS ALSO TRUE THAT FEDERAL POLICIES AND LAWS FASHIONED IN WASHINGTON STILL HAVE A DIRECT AND SOMETIMES DEVASTATING EFFECT ON THE DAILY LIVES OF NATIVE PEOPLE.

WHILE TRIBAL GOVERNMENTS STRUGGLE TO FIND NEW SOURCES OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN INDIAN COUNTRY -- ATTRACTING BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY TO AREAS WHERE SEVENTY-FIVE TO NINETY PERCENT UNEMPLOYMENT IS TYPICAL -- THERE HAVE BEEN COUNTLESS ASSAULTS ON TRIBAL SOVEREIGNTY IN THE CONGRESS -- ASSAULTS THAT GO TO THE FUNDAMENTAL CORE OF THE ABILITY OF INDIAN TRIBES TO FUNCTION AS GOVERNMENTS.

MANY OF THESE PROPOSALS SURFACE AS PROVISIONS IN APPROPRIATIONS MEASURES.

THIS IS NOT A NEW PHENOMENON.

FOR INSTANCE, THE CONGRESS WILL OFTEN PLACE INCENTIVES IN APPROPRIATIONS MEASURES FOR THE STATES -- IF YOU ENACT A SEATBELT LAW OR IF YOU REDUCE THE MAXIMUM SPEED ON YOUR ROADS, YOU WILL RECEIVE MORE FEDERAL HIGHWAY FUNDING.

IN CONTRAST, IN THE REALM OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, THE APPROPRIATIONS MEASURES OF RECENT YEARS ARE MORE PUNITIVE IN NATURE.

THEY PROVIDE, FOR EXAMPLE, THAT NO LAND WILL BE TAKEN INTO TRUST UNLESS TRIBAL GOVERNMENTS ENTER INTO AGREEMENTS WHEREBY STATES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS CAN TAX WHAT LITTLE COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY THERE IS ON INDIAN LANDS.

OR THEY PROVIDE THAT TRIBAL GOVERNMENTS WILL BE TREATED NOT AS GOVERNMENTS, BUT AS CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS AND THEIR MEAGER INCOME WILL BE SUBJECT TO A FEDERAL TAX OF THIRTY-FOUR PERCENT.

WHEN IT COMES TO FEDERAL SPENDING, THE CONGRESS DOESN'T REQUIRE THAT THE STATE GOVERNMENTS SUBMIT REPORTS ON THEIR INCOME AND REVENUES FROM ALL SOURCES, BEFORE WE DETERMINE WHETHER THEY MERIT ASSISTANCE FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.

BUT FOR THE PAST THREE YEARS, THE GOVERNMENTS OF INDIAN COUNTRY HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT ANY FEDERAL ASSISTANCE THEY ARE ELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE WILL BE REDUCED BY THE AMOUNT OF REVENUES THEY EARN FROM OTHER SOURCES.

HARKING BACK TO THE TREATIES, THIS PRESENTS AN INTERESTING PROPOSITION.

THE GOVERNMENT OF THIS UNITED STATES UNDERTOOK LEGAL OBLIGATIONS IN EXCHANGE FOR THE CESSION BY THE INDIANS OF MILLIONS OF ACRES OF LAND -- LAND OF CONSIDERABLE VALUE.

WE SAID WE WOULD PAY FOR THE LAND BY PROVIDING HEALTH CARE AND EDUCATION AND HOUSING TO THE TRIBES AND THAT WE WOULD ASSURE THE PROTECTION OF WHATEVER NATURAL RESOURCES THEY MIGHT BE FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO HAVE ON THE RESERVATIONS WE FORCED THEM TO OCCUPY.

I KNOW OF NO PROVISION OF ANY TREATY WHICH SAYS THAT THE UNITED STATES WILL PAY FOR THE LANDS CEDED BY THE INDIANS ONLY SO LONG AS EACH TRIBE REMAINS IN THE SAME CONDITIONS OF POVERTY THAT OUR LAWS AND POLICIES CAST THEM IN.

I KNOW OF NO SECTION OF ANY TREATY WHICH STATES THAT THE LEGAL OBLIGATIONS UNDERTAKEN BY THE UNITED STATES WILL ONLY BE FULFILLED TO THE EXTENT THEY ARE DEEMED TO BE FINANCIALLY FEASIBLE.

WE ARE A NATION THAT PRIDES OURSELVES ON BEING A NATION OF LAWS.

OUR CONSTITUTION AND THE RULINGS OF OUR SUPREME COURT MAKE CLEAR THAT TREATIES ARE THE HIGHEST LAW OF THE LAND.

TO MY KNOWLEDGE, WE HAVE NEVER CONDITIONED OUR LEGAL OBLIGATIONS, LET ALONE OUR TREATY COMMITMENTS -- ON A MEASUREMENT OF THE ECONOMIC WELL-BEING OF THOSE TO WHOM WE HAVE MADE COMMITMENTS OR UNDERTAKEN LEGAL OBLIGATIONS.

THIS IS WHAT IS A STAKE.

A FORMER JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT, JUSTICE HUGO BLACK, ONCE SAID -- "GREAT NATIONS, LIKE GREAT MEN, KEEP THEIR WORD".

THE INDIAN NATIONS, AND THE TRIBAL LEADERS WHO REPRESENT THEM, ARE NOT ASKING FOR GRATUITIES OR FEDERAL LARGESSE.

THEY SEEK ONLY TO HAVE THIS GREAT NATION KEEP ITS WORD, TO HONOR OUR LEGAL COMMITMENTS, AND TO FORBEAR FROM TAKING ACTIONS THAT WOULD UNDERMINE THE ABILITY OF TRIBAL GOVERNMENTS TO CONTINUE THE EXPRESSION AND EXERCISE OF THEIR INHERENT SOVEREIGNTY.