Mastering Native American Law

"Mastering Native American Law is designed to provide readers with an overview of the field and serve as a useful supplement to classroom instruction covering Tribal nations governance and law, federal Indian law, and Tribal Nation-state government relations. In ten chapters, the book provides the reader with a foundational understanding of core concepts stemming from American Indian and Alaska Native Tribal Nations. This third edition keeps pace with Tribal Nation legal developments in relation to policy, federal law, and court decisions, while it continues to fill a unique niche as a primary and secondary text for courses in the field. Updates are provided for key developments such as the recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions on the extent of criminal prosecutorial authority in Indian Country and the federal legislative authority for the Indian Child Welfare Act. The text also serves as a practical guide for Tribal law practitioners and lawyers that are looking to expand their knowledge of Native American law. The topics include: Native American Property Law; Criminal Jurisdiction in Indian Country; Tribal Government, Civil Jurisdiction and Regulation; Family Law in Tribal Nation Communities; Tribal Nation-State Government Relations; and Sacred Sites, Cultural Property Protection, and Repatriation. Throughout the text, explanations of the relevant interaction between the over 570 Tribal Nations, the United States federal government, and state governments are included in the various subject areas. In Chapter 10, "International Indigenous Issues and Tribal Nations," the significant evolution of collective rights in international documents is discussed in depth, as these documents have relevance for Tribal Nations in relations with the United States. Suitable for Native American law courses, law school seminars on topics in Native American Law, undergraduate and graduate level American Indian and Alaska Native Studies classes, and those interested in the field, this book provides an easy-to-read text to guide readers from the historical to the contemporary on the major aspects of Tribal Nations law and policy"--

This second edition keeps pace with legal developments in policy, federal law, and court decisions, while it continues to fill a unique niche as a primary and secondary text for courses in the field. Updates are provided for key developments such as the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision on tribal sovereign immunity and the release of the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs Guidelines on the interpretation of the Indian Child Welfare Act. A new chapter on Ethics and Professional Responsibility in Indian Law Practice is included. -- from publisher's website.

In the early 1970s, the federal government began recognizing self-determination for American Indian nations. As sovereign entities, Indian nations have been able to establish policies concerning health care, education, religious freedom, law enforcement, gaming, and taxation. David E. Wilkins and K. Tsianina Lomawaima discuss how the political rights and sovereign status of Indian nations have variously been respected, ignored, terminated, and unilaterally modified by federal lawmakers as a result of the ambivalent political and legal status of tribes under western law.

Nearly every American Indian tribe has its own laws and courts. Taken together, these courts decide thousands of cases. Many span the full panoply of law—from criminal, civil, and probate cases, to divorce and environmental disputes. American Indian Tribal Law, now in its Second Edition, surveys the full spectrum of tribal justice systems. With cases, notes, and historical context, this text is ideal for courses on American Indian Law or Tribal Governments—and an essential orientation to legal practice within tribal jurisdictions. New to the Second Edition: A new chapter on professional responsibility and the regulation of lawyers in tribal jurisdictions Enhanced materials on Indian child welfare Additional materials on tribal laws that incorporate Indigenous language and culture Additional examples from tribal justice systems and practice Recent and noteworthy cases from tribal courts Professors and students will benefit from: A broad survey of dispute resolution systems within tribal jurisdictions A review of recent flashpoints in tribal law, such as internal tribal political matters, including intractable citizenship and election disputes enhanced criminal jurisdiction over nonmembers and non-Indians tribal constitutional reform, including a case study on the White Earth Nation Cases and material reflecting a wide range of American Indian tribes and legal issues Excerpts and commentary from a wellspring of current scholarship

Explores the legal relationships of enslaved people and their descendants during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in Spanish America Atlantic slavery can be overwhelming in its immensity and brutality, as it involved more than 15 million souls forcibly displaced by European imperialism and consumed in building the global economy. Mastering the Law: Slavery and Freedom in the Legal Ecology of the Spanish Empire lays out the deep history of Iberian slavery, explores its role in the Spanish Indies, and shows how Africans and their descendants used and shaped the legal system as they established their place in Iberoamerican society during the seventeenth century. Ricardo Raúl Salazar Rey places the institution of slavery and the people involved with it at the center of the creation story of Latin America. Iberoamerican customs and laws and the institutions that enforced them provided a common language and a forum to resolve disputes for Spanish subjects, including enslaved and freedpeople. The rules through which Iberian conquerors, settlers, and administrators incorporated Africans into the expanding Empire were developed out of the need of a distant crown to find an enforceable consensus. Africans and their mestizo descendants, in turn, used and therefore molded Spanish institutions to serve their interests.Salazar Rey mined extensively the archives of secular and religious courts, which are full of complex disputes, unexpected subversions, and tactical alliances among enslaved people, freedpeople, and the crown. The narrative unfolds around vignettes that show Afroiberians building their lives while facing exploitation and inequality enforced through violence. Salazar Rey deals mostly with cases originating from Cartagena de Indias, a major Atlantic port city that supported the conquest and rule of the Indies. His work recovers the voices and indomitable ingenuity that enslaved people and their descendants displayed when engaging with the Spanish legal ecology. The social relationships animating the case studies represent the broader African experience in the Americas during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Approaches the study of Indian law through the lens of 16 of the most impactful law review articles.