Aboriginal Societies and the Common Law: A History of Sovereignty, Status, and Self-determination

This book describes the encounter between the common law legal system and the tribal peoples of North America and Australasia. It is a history of the role of anglophone law in managing relations between the British settlers and indigenous peoples from colonial foundation to the end of the Twentieth century. The historical basis of relations is described through the enduring, but constantly shifting questions of sovereignty, status and, more recently, self-determination.