What is a reservation? · Neighbor Radio

A reservation is land held in federal trust for a Native nation, what remained after treaties in which tribes ceded their original territories in exchange for smaller, defined lands. There are about 326 Indian reservations in the US, covering about 56 million acres, mostly in the West. Tribal nations govern these lands as sovereign governments, with their own courts, schools, police, and services. The history is one of dispossession; the present is one of resilience and complicated governance.

1 · MindWhat people believe, and how they know

The reservation system emerged from the treaty era, primarily the 19th century. The United States negotiated treaties with tribal nations that typically exchanged large ancestral territories for smaller ‘reserved’ lands, annuities, and government services. Hundreds of such treaties were made; most were broken or renegotiated under duress.

Federal policy swung between ‘civilizing,’ allotment (breaking up tribal lands into individual plots, which further reduced tribal land holdings from about 138 million acres in 1887 to about 48 million by 1934), termination (attempting to end the federal relationship with tribes in the 1950s), and, since 1975, self-determination (tribes managing their own affairs).

Reservations are federal trust land. The tribe doesn’t own it in the way a private individual owns property, it’s held in trust by the federal government for the tribe’s benefit. This creates complicated legal situations around jurisdiction, taxation, and economic development.

Tribal nations are sovereign governments. The Supreme Court has consistently recognized tribal sovereignty, though its limits are contested. Tribes can establish their own courts, constitutions, police forces, and govern their members. The relationship with federal and state governments is complex and ongoing.

Common misconceptions: not all Native people live on reservations (the majority in America don’t). Reservations are not uniformly poor, though many face serious economic challenges. Casino revenue (where it exists) benefits some tribes significantly; most don’t have casinos, and even those that do have varying results. ‘Free land’ is a myth, reservations are what remains after significant dispossession.

What each tradition or community says

Tribal perspective

Reservations represent what was kept, not given. For many tribes, the reservation is home, the place their ceremonies are tied to, where their language is strongest. The politics of sovereignty and land are ongoing.

Legal perspective

Tribal sovereignty is a legal reality, consistently upheld by the Supreme Court, though frequently challenged. The question of what tribes can and cannot govern is litigated regularly.

Outside view

Many Americans know reservations only from news coverage of poverty or casinos. Neither tells the full story. A reservation is a community, with schools and elders and kids on bikes, that has survived things most Americans don’t learn about in school.

2 · HeartWhat it feels like

If you’ve driven through the Southwest and seen the land, the space, the beauty, the isolation, and the signs of poverty alongside it, you’re seeing the result of specific policy decisions made over a specific period of time, not a natural condition.

Most Native people didn’t choose the reservation. Their ancestors were moved there, and they’ve built their lives in the land that was left.

The Navajo Nation is larger than West Virginia. People drive through it on the way to the Grand Canyon and don’t know what they’re in. Worth knowing.Neighbor Radio

3 · HandsHow to be a good neighbor

If you travel in the American West, you will pass through or near reservation land. Basic respect: follow posted rules (some areas are closed to visitors), buy from Native vendors when you can, ask before photographing people, and understand that you’re in a place with its own governance.

If you want to understand the history of the land you live on, tribal websites and the Native Land Digital project (native-land.ca) are good starting points.

This weekWhat do you know about the treaty history of the land where you live? Who signed it, and what did each side give up?

Plain wordsWhat do these words mean?

Reservation: Land set aside for a Native American tribe, where the tribe has its own government.
Sovereignty: The right to govern yourself. Federally recognized tribes are sovereign nations with their own governments.

All the words →

Four questions to take with you

From Jesus' story of the Good Samaritan, about the stranger who stopped to help. We call it the Samaritan Test.

Did they see? Or look right past?
Did they stop? Even when it was inconvenient?
Did it cost them? Time, money, comfort, reputation?
Did they treat the person like a person? Not like a label?

Try it on: a piece of land you think of as just ‘where you live.’ What was it before that, and whose was it?

Quick questions

Do Native people get free money from the government?

Federal government services to tribal members come from treaty obligations, what the US agreed to provide in exchange for vast land cessions. They’re not ‘free money’; they’re contracted obligations. In practice, underfunding of these services is a persistent problem.

Are reservations their own countries?

They’re not foreign nations, but tribal nations have sovereign authority within their lands. The relationship is described in US law as ‘domestic dependent nations’, self-governing but within US jurisdiction.

Can anyone move to a reservation?

Tribal citizenship is determined by each tribe, based on descent, blood quantum, or other criteria. Non-members can visit; living there and becoming citizens of the tribe are different matters.

Sources and research

How this answer was made

Written in plain words by the Neighbor Radio team. Each faith's and community's section is checked by someone from that faith or community. Until then, this page says so. Spot something wrong? Tell us. We read every note and fix mistakes.