Secretarial Review is a part of the

Indian Reorganization Act The Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) of June 18, 1934, or the Wheeler–Howard Act, was U.S. federal legislation that dealt with the status of American Indians in the United States. It was the centerpiece of what has been often called the "Indian ...

of 1934 (IRA). According to this law, Native American tribes were expected to write constitutions loosely resembling the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven ar ...

. These IRA constitutions provided for a Tribal Council elected by the population and a chair person for the tribe; the chair person was either elected

at-large At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather than ...

, or was chosen from among the members of the council. There was generally no provision for a Tribal

Judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

. In the section of the tribal constitutions pertaining to the powers of the Tribal Council, there was generally a paragraph entitled "Manner of Review" which stated, " y resolution or

ordinance Ordinance may refer to: Law * Ordinance (Belgium), a law adopted by the Brussels Parliament or the Common Community Commission * Ordinance (India), a temporary law promulgated by the President of India on recommendation of the Union Cabinet * ...

which by the terms of this Constitution, is subject to review by the

Secretary of the Interior Secretary of the Interior may refer to: * Secretary of the Interior (Mexico) * Interior Secretary of Pakistan * Secretary of the Interior and Local Government (Philippines) * United States Secretary of the Interior See also

*Interior ministry ...

, shall be presented to the Superintendent of the reservation who shall, within ten days thereafter, approve or disapprove of the same." As Tribal leaders engage in constitutional reform, the review by the Secretary of Interior is often removed from the constitution.See amendments to ''Constitution of the Zuni Tribe,

Zuni Reservation The Zuni Indian Reservation, also known as Pueblo of Zuni, is the homeland of the Zuni tribe of Native Americans. In Zuni language, the Zuni Pueblo people are referred to as A:shiwi, and the Zuni homeland is referred to as Halona Idiwan’a mean ...

'',

Zuni Pueblo, New Mexico Zuni Pueblo (also Zuñi Pueblo, Zuni: ''Halona Idiwan’a'' meaning ‘Middle Place’) is a census-designated place (CDP) in McKinley County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 6,302 as of the 2010 Census. It is inhabited largely b ...

, ''Constitution of the Tohono O'odham Nation''. See also more recent Tribal Constitutions: ''Constitution of the

Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan ( oj, Ziibiwing Anishinaabek) is a federally recognized band of Ojibwe, Chippewa (a.k.a. Ojibwe) located in central Michigan in the United States. The tribal government offices are located on the Isabella ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

'', ''Constitution of the

Citizen Potawatomi Nation Citizen Potawatomi Nation is a federally recognized tribe of Potawatomi people located in Oklahoma. The Potawatomi are traditionally an Algonquian-speaking Eastern Woodlands tribe. They have 29,155 enrolled tribal members, of whom 10,312 live in ...

.''

References

Native American law United States Bureau of Indian Affairs {{US-law-stub