A timeline of American Indian history affecting reporters' access to land, records and meetings.

1721 -- The Cherokee Nation signs its first treaty with Great Britain.

1823 -- A controversial U.S. Supreme Court decision, Johnson v. M'Intosh, institutionalizes the conquest of American Indian lands, stripping American Indians of their full property rights.

1831-- The U.S. Supreme Court in Cherokee Nation v. Georgia determines that regulation of states is separate from the regulation of Indian tribes.

1896 -- The U.S. Supreme Court in Talton v. Mayes rules that the Fifth Amendment, guaranteeing the right of due process and protecting against self-incrimination, does not affect powers of tribal self-government.

1934 -- Congress passes the Indian Reorganization Act, allowing tribes to reorganize their governments and consolidate their land bases, and providing a boilerplate constitution from which tribes can develop their own supreme law.

1968 -- Congress passes the Indian Civil Rights Act, incorporating many of the provisions of the Bill of Rights, including the First Amendment, into Indian tribal governance.

1978 -- The U.S. Supreme Court in Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez rules that tribal sovereignty means tribal courts may interpret constitutional provisions incorporated under the Indian Civil Rights Act differently than federal courts do.

1988 -- Congress passes the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, requiring tribes to enter into compacts with states to engage in certain gambling activities.

2000 -- The Cherokee Nation passes the Independent Press Act of 2000, codifying the tribe's commitment to principles of free press and free speech.

2003 -- The National Congress of American Indians endorses a resolution favoring a "Free and Independent Native Press."

2005 -- The shootings at Red Lake High School in Minnesota, which leave nine people dead and seven injured, highlight tension between the right of tribes to sovereignty and the desire of reporters from around the world to gain access.