Oliphant v. Suquamish Indian Tribe

The case of Oliphant v. Suquamish Indian Tribe (1978) was a U.S. Supreme Court decision that addressed tribal jurisdiction over non-Indigenous individuals. The Court ruled that tribal courts do not have the authority to prosecute non-Indigenous people, even if the crime occurs on tribal land. This decision was seen as a significant setback for tribal sovereignty, leading some reservations to restrict access to non-Indigenous individuals to maintain order.1

This ruling contrasts with United States v. Wheeler (1978), where the Supreme Court affirmed that tribes could prosecute their own members, establishing that tribal judicial proceedings were separate from state or federal courts. This created a situation where Indigenous individuals could face prosecution in both tribal and other courts for the same offense, while non-Indigenous individuals were immune from tribal prosecution.1