It’s important to understand that as a sovereign nation, Tribal Governments have their own governmental organizations. Many tribes have constitutions, others operate under articles of association or other bodies of law, and some have found a way to combine their traditional systems of government within a modern governmental framework, such as utilizing a discussion based peacemaking or “mediation” alternative before proceeding with legal actions amongst members of a tribe.

Some tribes do not operate under any of these acts, but are nevertheless organized under documents approved by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior. Contemporary tribal governments are usually, but not always, modeled upon the federal system of the three branches: Legislative, Executive, and Judicial.