At the risk of oversimplification, they may be reduced to four. First, the tribes are independent entities with inherent powers of self-government. Second, the independence of the tribes is subject to exceptionally great powers of Congress to regulate and modify the status of the tribes. Fourth, the federal government has a responsibility for the protection of the tribes and their properties, including protection from encroachments by the states and their citizens. While this arrangement clearly allows the tribes to protect their cultures and values, it means that special efforts must be made to extend potentially good ideas to those on tribal lands who might benefit from them.
Tribal governments are as varied as the tribes, native villages and reservations they represent.
Most tribes were severely damaged by white conquest and indigenous systems of government fell to federal management. Many tribes were unnaturally grouped on reservations. And while the new constitutions, designed by the Federal government, were adopted by many tribes, many other tribes rejected the provisions of the IRA outright. Of the tribal governments that accepted the new constitutions, many have made significant changes to meet the needs of their people. For example, one tribe's government is comprised of 10 council members elected from districts that represent the four confederated tribes living on that reservation.