Gale Encyclopedia of American Law Volume 2 P37 fully illuminates today's leading cases, major statutes, legal terms and concepts, notable persons involved with the law, important documents and more. Legal issues are fully discussed in easy-to-understand language, including such high-profile topics as the Americans with Disabilities Act, capital punishment, domestic violence, gay and lesbian rights, physician-assisted suicide and thousands more. | 348 CHEROKEE CASES writing for the Court acknowledged that the plight of the Cherokee and other Native American tribes was real They were gradually sinking beneath our superior policy. The Court however could not base its analysis on sympathy. Marshall concluded that before the merits of the Cherokee case could be considered the Court had to determine whether it had jurisdiction to hear the case at all. The Cherokee argued they were a foreign state pointing out that the tribe was a distinct political society that managed its own affairs and that both the colonial and . governments had regarded them as a state. The fact that the federal government negotiated treaties with the Cherokee seemed to be good evidence that the tribe was regarded as a foreign state. The Court rejected these claims. Marshall stated that the Cherokee tribe was not a foreign state in the sense of the Constitution since the Indian Territory was located inside the geographical and jurisdictional boundaries of the United States. Moreover the Cherokee had acknowledged in the very treaties in question that they were under the protection of the United States. Therefore a better classification for the Cherokee and other Native American tribes was that of domestic dependent nations. The Court noted that the Constitution was silent on the issue of permitting the federal courts to hear disputes between states and Indian nations. Chief Justice Marshall found that the commerce clause empowers Congress to regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the several states and with the Indian tribes. This clause clearly distinguished between foreign nations and Native American tribes making them distinct entities. The relation between the tribes and the United States resembled that of a ward and his guardian rather than of coequal states. Based on this analysis the Supreme Court dismissed the case for lack of jurisdiction. The Cherokee returned to the Supreme Court the following year in Worcester and .
