Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/20pdf/20-543_3e04.pdf
Page Number: 8

Cite as:  594 U. S. ____ (2021) 

5 

Opinion of the Court 

(1973)  (defining  “Indian  tribe”  to  mean  “an  Indian  tribe,
band,  nation,  or  Alaska  Native  Community  for  which  the 
Federal  Government  provides  special  programs  and  ser-
vices because of its Indian identity”).  Prior to passage, how-
ever,  the  definition  was  amended  twice  to  include,  first, 
Alaska Native villages and, second, ANCs.  See H. R. Rep.
No. 93–1600, p. 14 (1974) (“The Subcommittee amended the
definition  of  ‘Indian  tribe’  to  include  regional  and  village 
corporations  established  by  [ANCSA]”).    Today,  ISDA  de-
fines an “Indian tribe” as “any Indian tribe, band, nation, 
or  other  organized  group  or  community,  including  any 
Alaska Native village or regional or village corporation as
defined  in  or  established  pursuant  to  [ANCSA],  which  is 
recognized as eligible for the special programs and services
provided by the United States to Indians because of their
status as Indians.”  §5304(e).2 

Despite the express inclusion of ANCs in the definition of
“Indian tribe,” a question arose in the Interior Department 
whether the “recognized-as-eligible clause” limits the defi-
nition to “federally recognized tribes” only.  A federally rec-
ognized tribe is one that has entered into “a government-to-
government  relationship  [with]  the  United  States.”    1  F. 
Cohen, Handbook of Federal Indian Law §3.02[3] (N. New-
ton  ed.  2012).  This  recognition  can  come  in  a  number  of
ways: “from treaty, statute, executive or administrative or-
der, or from a course of dealing with the tribe as a political
entity.”  W. Canby, American Indian Law in a Nutshell 4 
(7th  ed.  2020).    As  private  companies  incorporated  under 
state  law,  ANCs  have  never  been  “recognized”  by  the
United States in this sovereign political sense.

In  1976,  the  year  after  ISDA’s  enactment,  the  Interior 
Department’s Assistant Solicitor for Indian Affairs issued a 
—————— 

2 In 1990, Congress made “technical corrections” to ISDA.  S. Rep. No.
101–226, p. 10 (1989).  Relevant here, Congress inserted a comma after 
the “Indian tribe” definition’s reference to ANCSA, bringing the defini-
tion to what it is today.  Act of May 24, 1990, §2(a)(1), 104 Stat. 206.