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Rh United States,” allowing it considerable power over Indians on federal territory. Art. IV, §3, cl. 2. The Constitution also authorized Congress to employ its spending power to divert funds toward Tribes. Art. I, §8, cl. 1. Where all those powers came up short, the Constitution afforded the federal government the power to “regulate Commerce with foreign Nations and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes.” §8, cl. 3 (emphasis added). Much of modern federal Indian law rests on that commerce power. It demands a closer look.

Contained in a single sentence, what we sometimes call “the” Commerce Clause is really three distinct Clauses rolled into one: a Foreign Commerce Clause, an Interstate Commerce Clause, and an Indian Commerce Clause. To be sure, those Clauses share the same lead word: “Commerce.” And, viewed in isolation, that word might appear to sweep narrowly—encompassing activities like “selling, buying, and bartering, as well as transporting for these purposes.” United States v. Lopez, 514 U. S. 549, 585–586 (1995) (, concurring) (citing founding-era definitions). But it is “well established” that the individual Commerce Clauses have “very different applications,” Cotton Petroleum Corp. v. New Mexico, 490 U. S. 163, 192 (1989), a point the framers themselves acknowledged, see, e.g., Letter from E. Randolph to G. Washington (Feb. 12, 1791), in 7 Papers of George Washington: Presidential Series 330, 331–337 (D. Twohig 1998).

Start with the word “Commerce.” From the Nation’s earliest days, Indian commerce was considered “a special subject with a definite content,” quite “distinct and specialized” from other sorts of “commerce.” A. Abel, The Commerce Clause in the Constitutional Convention and in Contemporary Comment, 25 Minn. L. Rev. 432, 467–468 (1941). A