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Page Number: 88

6 

HAALAND v. BRACKEEN 

THOMAS, J., dissenting 

II 
To  explain  the  original  understanding  of  the  Constitu-
tion’s  enumerated  powers  with  regard  to  Indians,  I  start
with our Nation’s Founding-era dealings with Indian tribes. 
Those early interactions underscore that the Constitution
conferred specific, enumerated powers on the Federal Gov-
ernment which aimed at specific problems that the Nation 
faced under the Articles of Confederation.  The new Federal 
Government’s actions with respect to Indian tribes are eas-
ily explained by those enumerated powers.  Meanwhile, the 
States continued to enjoy substantial authority with regard
to tribes.  At each turn, history and constitutional text thus 
point to a set of enumerated powers that can be applied to 
Indian  tribes—not  some  sort  of  amorphous,  unlimited
power than can be applied to displace all state laws when it 
comes to Indians. 

A 

Before  the  Revolution,  most  of  the  Thirteen  Colonies 
adopted their own regulations governing Indian trade.  See 
Adoptive Couple, 570 U. S., at 660 (THOMAS, J., concurring);
R.  Natelson,  The  Original  Understanding  of  the  Indian 
Commerce  Clause,  85  Denver  U.  L. Rev.  201,  219,  and 
n. 121  (2007)  (Natelson)  (collecting  laws).    These  regula-
tions were necessary because colonial traders abused their 
Indian trading partners, often provoking violent Indian re-
taliation.  See Adoptive Couple, 570 U. S., at 660–661; 1 F. 
Prucha, The Great Father 18–21 (1984) (Prucha).  Most co-
lonial governments thus imposed licensing systems of some 
form both to protect Indians and to maintain trading rela-
tionships with them.  See id., at 19.  However, the colonial 
laws were not uniform, leading to rivalries between the Col-
onies, corruption, fraud, and other abuses by traders.  Id., 
at 21.  Then, once the Nation had achieved independence, 
it “faced innumerable difficulties,” id., at 46, from finding 
ways to uphold its treaties with foreign nations to economic