Entrepreneurs planning to go into business can opt to organize their business structure as a corporation. (Tribal governments may also form corporations to carry on economic development on or off the reservation, but that is not the subject of this article). Corporations are creatures of statute, and a state or tribal statute will detail how the corporation may be formed and what its ongoing requirements are. (Note that most tribal statutes deal with creating tribal rather than private corporations.)
A partnership is a relatively simple business structure to organize and operate. At its most basic, a partnership is an entity consisting of two or more partners, established to carry on a business. No papers need to be filled out or filed with the state. The only state requirement, typically, is that the partnership name be registered if the name used is fictitious.
Issues of jurisdiction in Indian Country can be complex. UANativeNet.com has developed a flowchart to walk you through the factors determining who has jurisdiction to prosecute and hear cases in Indian Country or involving Indians.
Native Hawaiians have a unique relationship with the federal government which differs from the relationship between the government and American Indians. Unlike many American Indian tribes and Alaskan Natives, Native Hawaiians are not federally recognized. Native Hawaiian refers to the indigenous Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands. Native Hawaiians trace their ancestry back to prehistoric Marquesan, Tahitian, Samoan (potentially Tongan) settlers of Hawaii.
The Major Crimes Act (“MCA”), 18 U.S.C. §1153, was first enacted by Congress in 1885, in direct response to the United States Supreme Court 1883 decision in Ex Parte Crow Dog. The MCA gives the United States jurisdiction to try and punish serious crimes committed by Indians within Indian Country.
