EXECUT IVE COMMIT TEE

PRESIDENT

Brian Cladoosby

Swinomish Tribe

FIRST VICE-PRESIDENT

Randy Noka

Narragansett Tribe

RECORDING SECRETARY

Aaron Payment

Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa

Indians of Michigan

TREASURER

W. Ron Allen

Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe

REGIONAL VICEPRESIDENT S

ALASKA

Jerry Isaac

Native Village of Tanacross

EASTERN OKLAHOMA

Joe Byrd

Cherokee Nation

GREAT PLAINS

Leander McDonald

Spirit Lake Nation

MIDWEST

Roger Rader

Pokagon Band of Potawatomi 

NORTHEAST

Lance Gumbs

Shinnecock Indian Nation

NORTHWEST

Fawn Sharp

Quinault Indian Nation

PACIFIC

Jack Potter, Jr.

Redding Rancheria

ROCKY MOUNTAIN

Darrin Old Coyote

Crow Nation

SOUTHEAST

Larry Townsend

Lumbee Tribe

SOUTHERN PLAINS

Liana Onnen

Prairie Band of Potawatomi Nation 

SOUTHWEST

Joe Garcia

Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo

WESTERN

Bruce Ignacio

Ute Indian Tribe

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Jacqueline Pata

Tlingit

NCAI HEADQUARTERS

1516 P Street, N.W.

Washington, DC 20005

202.466.7767

202.466.7797 fax

w w w . n c a i . o r g

 N A T I O N A L C O N G R E S S O F A M E R I C A N I N D I A N S

The National Congress of American Indians

Resolution #SD-15-036

TITLE: Support for Tribal Tax Reform and Setting Tax Policy Priorities

WHEREAS, we, the members of the National Congress of American Indians 

of the United States, invoking the divine blessing of the Creator upon our efforts and 

purposes, in order to preserve for ourselves and our descendants the inherent sovereign 

rights of our Indian nations, rights secured under Indian treaties and agreements with 

the United States, and all other rights and benefits to which we are entitled under the 

laws and Constitution of the United States, to enlighten the public toward a better 

understanding of the Indian people, to preserve Indian cultural values, and otherwise 

promote the health, safety and welfare of the Indian people, do hereby establish and 

submit the following resolution; and

WHEREAS, the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) was 

established in 1944 and is the oldest and largest national organization of American 

Indian and Alaska Native tribal governments; and

WHEREAS, the United States has entered into numerous treaties with the 

American Indian nations and tribes located within its borders, including NCAI

member Tribes, in which it has promised to recognize and respect tribal sovereignty 

and jurisdiction, but has consistently violated those treaties throughout its history; and

WHEREAS, since 1924, when the U.S. government unilaterally conferred 

citizenship upon American Indians born within the United States, Congress preserved 

the right of Indians to tribal and other property uninfluenced by the grant of such 

citizenship, yet the U.S. government led by the Internal Revenue Service has sought to 

tax tribal government activities and the income of individual Indians; and

WHEREAS, despite any act of Congress authorizing such taxation, the U.S. 

government led by the Internal Revenue service has consistently held that individual 

Indians are subject to federal income tax for income not “derived from the land” or 

derived from treaty-protected fishing rights; and 

WHEREAS, in 1982, the U.S. Congress enacted the Indian Tribal 

Government Tax Status for purposes of ensuring that tribal government revenues 

would not be subject to income tax and would be treated like other sovereign 

governments for tax purposes; and

WHEREAS, in 1989, the U.S. Supreme Court decided the case of Cotton 

Petroleum Corp v. New Mexico where it was held that state governments have the 

authority to impose taxation on non-Indians doing business on tribal lands, thus 

undermining exclusive tribal taxing jurisdiction and allowing states and local 

governments to interfere with tribal economic activity; and
NCAI 2015 Annual Resolution SD-15-036

Page 2 of 3

WHEREAS, in 2014, after years of targeted efforts by the Internal Revenue Service to audit 

tribal governments and individual Indians, NCAI and other Indian nations and tribes succeeded in 

advocating to the U.S. Congress to end the practice of taxing tribal government benefits by enacting 

the Tribal General Welfare Exclusion Act; and 

WHEREAS, there remain important issues of tax policy, tribal economic development, and 

protection of tribal and individual Indian tax immunities that must be protected and pursued.

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the National Congress of American 

Indians (NCAI) continues to support efforts by the U.S. Congress to reform the U.S. tax code to 

ensure greater protection and respect for treaty-protected sovereign rights of tribal sovereignty and 

self-determination, especially to support efforts by tribal governments to establish strong tribal 

economies; and 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the NCAI tribal tax reform efforts shall include the 

following essential guiding priorities:

o Respect for the treaty-defined government-to-government relationship between 

Indian nations and the United States;

o Restore greater recognition of the U.S. government’s classification of “Indians not 

taxed;” 

o Promote job creation and economic development on tribal lands, in particular 

ensuring that existing tax immunities are preserved and expanded to address the 

evolution of tribal economies; 

o Protect tribal citizens from unauthorized and unjust taxation by the U.S. government 

for income earning activities on sovereign tribal lands; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that NCAI supports the following initiatives as part of the 

Congressional reform of the U.S. tax code:

1. Establish tax-free Tribal Empowerment Zones on tribal lands to promote investment, 

job creation, and revenue generation for tribal governments;

2. Remove state tax and regulatory burdens on economic activity occurring on tribal 

lands by (i) affirming the exclusive taxing jurisdiction of tribal governments within 

their territories, and (ii) ensuring that tribe-to-tribe trade can occur without taxation 

or regulation by state or local governments;

3. Enact the adoption tax credit to ensure that tribal court adoption proceedings of 

special needs children allow adopting parents to obtain tax credits otherwise 

available through state court proceedings;

4. Ensure that tribal child support enforcement agencies are treated like states for 

purposes of federal parent locator services and the federal tax refund offset 

mechanism; 
NCAI 2015 Annual Resolution SD-15-036

Page 3 of 3

5. Ensure that bonds issued by tribal governments are not subject to an “essential 

government function” test and otherwise issued on a tax-exempt basis like state and 

local governments; 

6. Extend permanently the existing temporary federal tax credits, such as the Indian 

Employment Tax Credit, the Accelerated Depreciation for Business Property on 

Indian Reservations, and the Indian Coal Production Credit; and

7. Ensure that tribal council members are fully eligible to participate in the Social 

Security system; and 

8. Ensure the sovereign immunity of tribal governments from all federal excise taxes 

like state governments, as well as benefit from public charity classification rules and 

alternative fuel tax credits; 

9. Enact modification to the Kiddie Tax to ensure that tribal government trust 

distributions are not subject to higher rates of tax; and

10. Establish within the Treasury Department a self-governance program that would 

allow tribal governments to establish and capture federal income tax generated 

within their borders and otherwise establish autonomy from the Internal Revenue 

Service like the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; and 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that this resolution be forwarded to regional and national 

forums and organizations beyond NCAI, United South & Eastern Tribes (USET), California 

Association of Tribal Governments, Native American Finance Officers (NAFOA), the Great Plains 

Tribal Chairman’s Association, and the Midwest Alliance of Sovereign Tribes (MAST); and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that this resolution shall be the policy of NCAI until it is 

withdrawn or modified by subsequent resolution.

CERTIFICATION

The foregoing resolution was adopted by the General Assembly at the 2015 Annual Session of the 

National Congress of American Indians, held at the Town and Country Resort, San Diego, CA, 

October 18-23, 2015, with a quorum present.

 

Brian Cladoosby, President

ATTEST:

Aaron Payment, Recording Secretary