The nature and extent of the exercise of criminal jurisdiction by the Cherokee Supreme Court: 1823--1835

Much Federal Indian Law is Federal common law. In creating a body of work regarding the jurisdiction possessed by Indian Tribes as a function of retained sovereignty, the Supreme Court has failed to hew a straight line. The legal histories of Indian Tribes may offer strong evidence of retained sovereignty. The original Cherokee Supreme Court, 1823-1835 exercised complete criminal jurisdiction. Analysis of that jurisdiction is evidence that full criminal jurisdiction is not inconsistent with the Cherokee Indians' dependent sovereign status.