Research Guides: Native American &amp; Indigenous Studies: Government, Laws, & Treaties

Native Governments

Native Governments and the United States

There are currently 574 federally recognized tribal nations in the United States. As described by the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), the oldest representative organization of tribal governments, these Native governments "have a formal nation-to-nation relationship with the US government." These governments are sovereign, meaning they have the right to self-governance, and provide many of the same services to their members as do state governments.

National Congress of American Indians (NCAI)
Founded in 1944, the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) is the oldest, largest, and most representative American Indian and Alaska Native organization serving the broad interests of tribal governments and communities.
Tribal Leaders Directory
Contact information for each federally recognized tribe. Also searchable by state.

Federally Recognized Tribes in Florida

Seminole Tribe of Florida
As established in the Seminole Tribe of Florida's constitution, the Tribal Council is the chief governing body, composed of a Chairman, a Vice-Chairman and Council Representatives from each reservation. Today, the Council administers the Seminole Police Department, the Human Resources programs, the Tribal gaming enterprises, citrus groves, the Billie Swamp Safari, the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum and the majority of the Tribe's cigarette-related enterprises. The Seminole Tribe of Florida's Legal Services Department administers a public defender's office, Water Resource Management, and the Utilities Department.
Miccosukee Tribe of Indians
The responsibilities of the General Council consist of the development and management of resources and the day-to-day business activities of the Tribe including those involving membership, government, law and order, education, welfare, recreation, and fiscal disbursement. This group is also known as the Business Council. It is a combination of traditional tribal government and modern management that forms the organizational structure of the present-day Miccosukee Tribe.

Laws & Treaties

Indian Claims Insight This link opens in a new window
Indian Claims Insight provides researchers with the opportunity to understand and analyze Native American migration and resettlement throughout U.S. history in the context of U.S. Government Indian removal policies and subsequent actions to address Native American claims.
Abbreviation: ici
Vendor: ProQuest
Coverage: 1789–Current
Subjects: History, Law
Type: Government Publications, Historical / Primary Sources
Indigenous Peoples of the Americas: History, Culture & Law This link opens in a new window
With more than 4,000 titles and 2.3 million pages dedicated to indigenous American life and law, this library includes an expansive archive of treaties, federal statutes and regulations, federal case law, tribal codes, constitutions, and jurisprudence. It also features rare compilations edited by Felix S. Cohen that have never before been accessible online.
Abbreviation: amindian
Vendor: HeinOnline
Subjects: Business Legal Studies, Law
Type: Government Publications
Meriam Report on Indian Administration and the Survey of Conditions of the Indians in the U.S. This link opens in a new window
This collection comprises two sets of documents that helped the response to 40 years of failed Native American policies. The first is the full text of the report entitled The Problem of Indian Administration, better known as the Meriam Report. The second comprises the 41-part report to the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs detailing the conditions of life and the effects of policies and programs enacted by the Bureau of Indian Affairs on Native Americans. Both of these collections provide unique documentary insights into many major tribes: Sioux, Navaho, Quapaw, Chickasaw, Apache, Pueblo, Ute, Cherokee, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Kickapoo, Klamath, and many others.
Abbreviation: mrias
Vendor: Gale
Coverage: 1928–1943
Subjects: Communication, History
Type: Historical / Primary Sources

For additional guidance on navigating Native American law in the United States, consult the excellent guide created by the librarians at UCLA's Hugh and Hazel Darling Law Library.

UCLA Native American Law Guide
Covers both tribal law sources, including tribal constitutions, tribal codes and tribal court decisions, and federal law sources, including treaties.

United States Agencies

Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)
The Bureau of Indian Affairs’ mission is to enhance the quality of life, to promote economic opportunity, and to carry out the responsibility to protect and improve the trust assets of American Indians, Indian tribes and Alaska Natives.
Bureau of Indian Education (BIE)
As stated in Title 25 CFR Part 32.3, BIE’s mission is to provide quality education opportunities from early childhood through life in accordance with a tribe’s needs for cultural and economic well-being, in keeping with the wide diversity of Indian tribes and Alaska Native villages as distinct cultural and governmental entities.
Indian Health Service (IHS)
An agency within the Department of Health and Human Services, IHS is responsible for providing federal health services to American Indians and Alaska Natives.
Office of Federal Acknowledgment (OFA)
Within the Office of the Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs of the Department of the Interior, the OFA implements Part 83 of Title 25 of the Code of Federal Regulations (25 CFR Part 83), Procedures for Federal Acknowledgment of Indian Tribes. The acknowledgment process is the Department’s administrative process by which petitioning groups that meet the criteria are given Federal "acknowledgment" as Indian Tribes and by which they become eligible to receive services provided to members of Indian Tribes.

Native Governments and relations outside of the United States

Indigenous Services Canada (ISC)
Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) works collaboratively with partners to improve access to high quality services for First Nations, Inuit and Métis. ISC aims to support and empower Indigenous peoples to independently deliver services and address the socio-economic conditions in their communities.
Indigenous Peoples at the United Nations
Information on the participation of Indigenous peoples at the UN, including the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Research in Government, Law, and Politics

In addition to these specialized resources, searching the published scholarship by discipline is a great way to discover Indigenous scholarship and citations to Indigenous law and government documents. Consult the following guides for more on research in Government, Law, and Politics or Policy fields.

Political Science
by Mohamed Berray Last Updated Feb 17, 2025 112 views this year
Public Administration & Policy
by Mohamed Berray Last Updated Nov 15, 2024 128 views this year
U.S. Government
by Mohamed Berray Last Updated Apr 11, 2025 2886 views this year

College of Law Research Center
The Research Center for the FSU College of Law provides a suite of guides to legal research on a variety of legal topics.