Two parts of the United States Constitution are especially important for understanding the legal status of treaties made with Native nations: Article VI, which contains the Supremacy Clause, and Article I, which addresses the powers of Congress, including matters of commerce with Indian tribes.
Article VI and the Supremacy Clause
Article VI declares that the Constitution, the laws of the United States made in pursuance of it, and all treaties made under the authority of the United States are the supreme law of the land. It further provides that judges in every state are bound by them. This is the Supremacy Clause, and it places treaties on the same high plane as federal statutes and the Constitution itself.
The practical meaning is significant. A treaty ratified by the United States is not a mere policy statement or a promise that can be set aside at will. It is binding law that state laws cannot override. When the United States entered into treaties with Native nations, including the 1851 and 1868 treaties negotiated at Fort Laramie, those agreements became part of the supreme law of the land under Article VI.
Treaties with Native nations
From the founding era into the 1870s, the United States dealt with Native nations largely through treaties, the same instrument used in relations between sovereign governments. This treaty-making reflected a recognition that tribes were distinct political communities with their own governments and territories. In 1871, Congress ended the practice of making new treaties with tribes, but it also provided that treaties already in force would remain valid. Those existing treaties continue to have legal effect today.
Because ratified treaties carry the force of supreme law, the courts have long treated treaty rights as serious legal obligations. Questions about hunting, fishing, water, and land guaranteed by treaty are still litigated, and treaty language is interpreted with attention to how Native signers would have understood it at the time.
Article I and Indian affairs
Article I, which sets out the powers of Congress, includes the authority to regulate commerce with foreign nations, among the several states, and with the Indian tribes. This clause, often called the Indian Commerce Clause, became a foundation for the federal government central role in Indian affairs and for the principle that this relationship is primarily a federal, rather than a state, responsibility.
Together, these constitutional provisions frame a basic truth of federal Indian law: treaties are binding, the federal government holds primary authority in this field, and the promises made in agreements like those at Fort Laramie rest on the highest legal foundation the nation has. For more, see our articles on the nation-to-nation relationship and the Marshall Trilogy, or explore the legal and land disputes category.
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