Cite as: 507 U. S. 99 (1993)
Opinion of the Court
the text of § 1153, see n. 2, supra, and our prior cases make clear, federal jurisdiction over the offenses covered by the Indian Major Crimes Act is "exclusive" of state jurisdiction. See United States v. John, 437 U. S. 634, 651 (1978); Seymour v. Superintendent of Washington State Penitentiary, 368 U. S. 351, 359 (1962); United States v. Kagama, 118 U. S. 375, 384 (1886).
Congress has plenary authority to alter these jurisdictional guideposts, see Washington v. Confederated Bands and Tribes of Yakima Nation, 439 U. S. 463, 470-471 (1979), which it has exercised from time to time. This case concerns the first major grant of jurisdiction to a State over offenses involving Indians committed in Indian country, the Kansas Act, which provides in full:
"Jurisdiction is conferred on the State of Kansas over offenses committed by or against Indians on Indian reservations, including trust or restricted allotments, within the State of Kansas, to the same extent as its courts have jurisdiction over offenses committed elsewhere within the State in accordance with the laws of the State.
"This section shall not deprive the courts of the United States of jurisdiction over offenses defined by the laws of the United States committed by or against Indians on Indian reservations." Act of June 8, 1940, ch. 276, 54 Stat. 249 (codified at 18 U. S. C. § 3243).
Passed in 1940, the Kansas Act was followed in short order by virtually identical statutes granting to North Dakota and Iowa, respectively, jurisdiction to prosecute offenses comto the same law and penalties as all other persons committing any of the above offenses, within the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States.
"(b) Any offense referred to in subsection (a) of this section that is not defined and punished by Federal law in force within the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States shall be defined and punished in accordance with the laws of the State in which such offense was committed as are in force at the time of such offense." 18 U. S. C. § 1153.
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