Indian reservations are independent from their surrounding states and semi-sovereign (technically at least) but essentially managed by the federal government by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). Many conservatives believe the state of many Indian reservations are due in part to the mismanaged “welfare state” policies of the BIA that hinder NA’s from improving their lives. Personally I don’t know enough about the situation to say. I was only a child the last time I lived on an Indian reservation and barely remember it.