American Indian Law

Sections on compacts and on research tribal membership provide tips you might not see elsewhere.

Includes an overview of federal Indian policy and Indian law terminology (e.g., "Indian Country," "federal trust responsibility"). Focuses on Washington State.

This selective bibliographic essay on American Indian tribal governments, law and courts provides a much needed update on research in tribal law. Professor Carter's essay provides a guide to primary and secondary materials on tribal law and government, tribal courts and tribal judges. As tribes grow in number and influence there is a renewed interest in the jurisprudence of these "third sovereigns."

Under federal law, the legal status of Native Hawaiians is different from that of American Indian tribes. This article examines Native Hawaiian legal issues and sovereignty aspirations against a backdrop of the long and unsavory history of American involvement in the Pacific islands that became our fiftieth state. Active legal issues, still unfolding in the courts and the United States Congress, are described. A selected annotated bibliography assesses scholarship in the area and provides a starting place for further research.

This paper identifies and describes major themes in contemporary Alaska Native law. A selected and annotated bibliography is included to facilitate additional research.

American Indian tribes own substantial quantities of water, but often encounter obstacles to winning legal and public recognition of their water rights. Antiquated nineteenth century water regimes completely cut reservations out of water allocations throughout the arid western states, leaving many Indian lands unproductive, even as public funds built massive federal irrigation projects to provide low-cost water for other farmers. Since the 1960s, protracted and acrimonious litigation has forced some changes in the status quo. Today, weary participants in the water wars are increasingly accepting the reality of tribal water rights and negotiating settlements of water claims. This paper presents case studies illustrating tribal efforts to secure water rights. It briefly explains United States water law and identifies the legal basis of the Indian reserved water right. The paper concludes with research guidance and an annotated bibliography of selected printed and electronic sources.

The Project began in 1996. The developing technology of the World Wide Web offered a new opportunity to share information. The University of Oklahoma College of Law Library partnered with the National Indian Law Library to acquire and digitize these materials at a time when tribal documents were very difficult to find. The Project was created as a public service. Tribal documents were shared with permission from the National Indian Law Library or donated directly by tribal members. Other materials included are federal government documents in the public domain or publications shared with the permission of their creators.

This page lists select guides and presentations about researching American Indian and Alaska Native records found across different record groups and National Archives research facilities.