United States v. Maggi

McKEOWN, Circuit Judge:

The Major Crimes Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1153, provides federal criminal jurisdiction for certain crimes committed by Indians in Indian country. As the Supreme Court explained in United States v. Antelope, “we are dealing [ ] not with matters of tribal self-regulation, but with federal regulation of criminal conduct within Indian country implicating Indian interests.” 430 U.S. 641, 646, 97 S.Ct. 1395, 51 L.Ed.2d 701 (1977). Determination of who is an Indian under the statute is not as easy as it might seem. Indeed, the statute contains no definition, leaving to the courts the…