Tribal sovereignty has, for many years, been the subject of much debate amongst historians, legislators and members of the legal community. The questions of tribal sovereignty emerged in the early 1800’s in a trilogy of cases commonly referenced as “The Marshall Trilogy”. Although these cases were rooted in territorial
discussions one question that the Court addressed was the political status of tribes within the
United States. In addressing this issue the Court drew upon international principles of law to ultimately find that tribes were in fact self-governing; however the Court determined that the self-governance of tribes in the United States had been diminished.