domestic dependent nations

In the 1831 Supreme Court of the United States case Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, Chief Justice of the United States John Marshall wrote that Native American peoples in the United States were "domestic dependent nations" whose relationship to the United States is like that of a "ward to its guardian". The case was a landmark decision which led to the United States recognizing over 575 federally recognized tribal governments and 326 Indian reservations which are legally classified as domestic dependent nations with tribal sovereignty rights.