Government

The Absentee Shawnee were organized in 1936 as the "Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma" under the Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act. The Absentee Shawnee Tribe possesses all the inherent powers of sovereignty held prior to the Constitution of the United States. The inherent right of self-government precedes the United States Constitution, and the governing body of the Absentee Shawnee has never relinquished any part of this sovereign right. Among the powers of self-government upheld by the actions of the Absentee Shawnee, are the power to adopt and operate a form of government of their choosing, to define the conditions of tribal membership, to regulate domestic relations of members, to levy taxes, to regulate property within the jurisdiction of the Tribe, to control the conduct of membership by legislation and to administer justice.