Big win for tribes, pulling the state in line with the rest of the country. If you’ve ever wondered how difficult it is in Alaska working for and on behalf of tribes, read this much needed opinion.
II. Alaska Tribes are sovereign governments.
Tribal governments are separate sovereigns. As a starting point, tribal sovereignty can perhaps best be understood as self-rule–the right to make one’s own laws and be governed by them. Tribes possess inherent powers of self-government and exercise these powers to the extent they have not been extinguished.
Turtle Talk 