Title 25 — IndiansRelease 119-73
§71 Future treaties with Indian tribes
Title 25 › Chapter CHAPTER 3— - AGREEMENTS WITH INDIANS › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER I— - TREATIES › § 71
Summary
Tribes inside the United States cannot be treated as independent nations that the United States can make treaties with. Treaties made and ratified with tribes before March 3, 1871 remain valid and cannot be weakened. Treaties, executive orders, and Acts of Congress that protect tribal fishing rights also prevent states or local governments from taxing income from those fishing rights if section 7873 of title 26 does not allow a similar Federal tax.
Full Legal Text
Title 25, §71
Indians — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
No Indian nation or tribe within the territory of the United States shall be acknowledged or recognized as an independent nation, tribe, or power with whom the United States may contract by treaty; but no obligation of any treaty lawfully made and ratified with any such Indian nation or tribe prior to March 3, 1871, shall be hereby invalidated or impaired. Such treaties, and any Executive orders and Acts of Congress under which the rights of any Indian tribe to fish are secured, shall be construed to prohibit (in addition to any other prohibition) the imposition under any law of a State or political subdivision thereof of any tax on any income derived from the exercise of rights to fish secured by such treaty, Executive order, or Act of Congress if section 7873 of title 26 does not permit a like Federal tax to be imposed on such income.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
Codification R.S. § 2079 derived from act Mar. 3, 1871, ch. 120, § 1, 16 Stat. 566.
Amendments
1988—Pub. L. 100–647 inserted sentence at end relating to State tax treatment of income derived by Indians from exercise of fishing rights secured by treaties, Executive orders, or Acts of Congress.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
of 1988 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 100–647 applicable to all periods beginning before, on, or after Nov. 10, 1988, with no inference created as to existence or nonexistence or scope of any income tax exemption derived from fishing rights secured as of Mar. 17, 1988, by any treaty, law, or Executive order, see section 3044 of Pub. L. 100–647, set out as an
Effective Date
note under section 7873 of Title 26, Internal Revenue Code.
Short Title
of 2022 Amendment Pub. L. 117–317, § 1, Dec. 27, 2022, 136 Stat. 4419, provided that: “This Act [repealing section 72, 127 to 130, 137, 138, 273, 283, 285, and 302 of this title] may be cited as the ‘Repealing Existing Substandard Provisions Encouraging Conciliation with Tribes Act’ or the ‘RESPECT Act’.”
Short Title
of 2000 Amendment Pub. L. 106–179, § 1, Mar. 14, 2000, 114 Stat. 46, provided that: “This Act [amending section 81 and 476 of this title] may be cited as the ‘Indian Tribal Economic Development and Contract Encouragement Act of 2000’.”
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
25 U.S.C. § 71
Title 25 — Indians
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73