Trump v. Barbara · ¶217

The Civil Rights Act also excluded from citizenship “Indians not taxed.” This provision was intended to exclude Indians in tribes, but to recognize the citizenship of Indians who had left those tribes and joined the body politic. In Senator Trumbull’s words, it excluded Indians who “belong to the Indian tribes.” See Cong. Globe, 39th Cong., 1st Sess., at 572 (statement of Sen. Trumbull). But, it included Indians who were “no longer connected with their tribes” and instead lived and “earn[ed] a livelihood in the white settlements.” Ibid. (statement of Sen. Ramsey). Tribal Indians were “[c]onsidered virtually as foreigners,” but “[w]henever they [we]re separated from those tribes, and c[a]me within the jurisdiction of the United States so as to be counted, they [we]re citizens of the United States.” Ibid.

slip opinion, revised 7/01/26
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