Table of Contents

Acknowledgments; 1. A High Pretension of Savage Sovereignty; 2. Corn Tassell: State and Federal Conflict over Tribal Sovereignty; 3. American Indian Law and the Indian Nations: The Creek Nation, 1870–1900; 4. Crow Dog's Case; 5. Imposed Law and Forced Assimilation: The Legal Impact of the Major crimes Act and the Kamaga Decision; 6. Sitting Bull and Clapox: The Application of Bia Law to Indians Outside of the Major Crimes Act; 7. The Struggle for Tribal Sovereignty in Alaska, 1867–1900; 8. The Legal Structuring of Violence: American Law and the Indian Wars; 9. Conclusion.

Promotional Information

The first social history of American Indians' role in the making of American law which sheds new light on Native American struggles for sovereignty and justice in nineteenth-century America.

Reviews

"Regardless of differences in historical interpretation, few will doubt Harring's conclusions. He has shed insights into nineteenth century tribal legal processes, and that alone is a worthy contribution to legal scholarship of nineteenth century Native American history and he accomplished that task by writing an informative, questioning story." Richmond L. Clow, Great Plains Research "...a trenchant reminder of the absolutely central role that history--for better or worse--plays in the enterprise of Indian Law." Frank Pommersheim, Journal of American History "...provides a valuable foundation for understanding the complexities of the legal relationship between the federal government and Indian tribes...Harring's work shows what a rich field of study this can be." Raymond J. DeMallie, Indiana Magazine of History