American Indian Law: Native Nations and the Federal System

From its inception, American Indian Law: Native Nations and the Federal System has merged jurisprudence, history, comparative law, ethnology, and sociology to bring meaning to the tribal-federal relationship. The purposes of the book are to:

Survey the major doctrines in the field of Indian law

Provide a wide-ranging inquiry into the role of law and legal processes, both domestic and international, in protecting or frustrating the desires for political and cultural autonomy of various racial, cultural, religious, or national subgroups within a society, and

Accurately portray Indian tribal perspectives and voices on questions of federal Indian law

The Sixth Edition of American Indian Law maintains continuity with the prior edition in the focus on tribal as well as non-Indian perspectives on Native nations in the federal system. The authors focused on updating the material, reducing the heft of the volume, and reorganizing the topics to eliminate duplication and enhancing “teachability.” While developed primarily as a teaching tool and learning tool, this book is also a rich research sourcebook that purchasers can use long after they have completed their law school studies.

Statutory and regulatory language has been omitted from the casebook. Instead, it is included in a companion statutory supplement, Selected Federal Indian Law Provisions.