"Through its focus on the Doctrine of Discovery, Miller's book offers fascinating new insights into Jefferson's Indian policy, the significance of the Lewis & Clark expedition, and the origins of Manifest Destiny ideology in 19th- century America. Miller forces readers to confront the raw assertion of colonial power embodied in the Doctrine of Discovery, and its consistent deployment by the United States in the guise of law." -- Carole Goldberg, Professor, University of California, Los Angeles, Law School, co-author of American Indian Law: Native Nations and the Federal System "Written by lawyer and law professor Robert Miller, this is revisionist history in the very best sense of that tradition. Miller reviews historic documents and oft-told stories in a new and original light. This important study gives Native Americans and their role in United States history a richer and deeper meaning through Miller's thoughtful interpretation of the Doctrine of Discovery in the context of its historical, law-related, political principles." -- Rennard Strickland, Knight Professor of Law, University of Oregon "Miller's book represents the most comprehensive and thoughtful analysis of the American version of the Doctrine of Discovery to date, its role in the voyages of Lewis & Clark, and its continuing importance in the field of federal Indian Law today." -- Alexander Tallchief Skibine, Professor, University of Utah Law School "Professor Miller's treatment of the Doctrine of Discovery shows us that we still have much to learn about how we came to legitimize our jurisdiction over this continent. He illustrates the dense interlacing of law, ideology, and politics at work in the making of the New World. Everyone who is interested in Indian Law and the West will have to read this book." -- Gerald Torres, Bryant Smith Chair, University of Texas Law School
Robert J. Miller is Faculty Director, Rosette LLP, American Indian Economic Development Program, Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, Arizona State University and Chief Justice, Court of Appeals, Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon. He is a citizen of the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma.
In rationales for the invasion of the Americas, one legal
instrument stands out in high relief: Europe's so-called Doctrine
of Discovery. In the first third of the 19th century, it morphed
into the purely US doctrine of Manifest Destiny. Modern US
historians know this much, but nearly none know the legal
complexity or sweep of these ideas. When they are laid shockingly
bare, as in Miller's important book, they are quickly seen to have
been both idiotic and revered. Americans easily grasped the
Doctrine of Discovery's ten legalisms for land seizure and
incidental genocide before the 20th century, with the later
Manifest Destiny dashing even the pretense of Native rights. Miller
walks readers through deep, consistent evidence that Thomas
Jefferson patterned his Louisiana expansionism upon the legal
pretexts of discovery, setting up removal in the process. Miller
carefully traces the racist, greedy religiosity of Manifest Destiny
next used to seize Indian land, especially in Oregon, showing it
also as the basis for laws applied to Native Americans that
appallingly continue in effect into the present. A must read.
Essential. All libraries serving students of any period of US
history.
*Choice*
This is an easy-to-read, informative, and well-researched book.
Miller manages to describe a complex international doctrine in
layman terms and keep the readers' interest along the way. It will
be enjoyed by those studying legal, U.S. or Native American
history.
*Tribal College Journal*
This history has been examined thoroughly by previous scholars;
what Miller adds to the discussion is a thorough study of
Jefferson's infatuation with the principle and a determination to
link doctrine of discovery to the emergence of the American belief
in Manifest Destiny….Miller's thoroughly researched and determined
argument is significant for at least three other reasons. First, he
points out that the doctrine of discovery was not only the
foundation of American territorial and political hegemony over our
nation's indigenous peoples, but that it is a living, breathing
principle that courses through contemporary American Indian law and
political calculations. Second, the book complements an important
and expanding historiography on the ideology and cant of
Euro-American conquest. Finally, Miller does not simply lament the
tragedies wrought by the doctrine of discovery; he offers the
United States an honorable way out of the legal miasma produced by
two centuries of adherence to the doctrine
*Oregon Historical Quarterly*
[T]akes a fresh approach in placing the discovery doctrine at the
center of analysis of the Lewis and Clark expedition, and he proves
an interesting discussion of the explorers' use of rituals and
symbols that echoed earlier European practices….[M]iller's legal
insights provide a useful contribution to scholarship on Jefferson,
Lewis and Clark, the Louisiana Purchase, the Pacific Northwest,
American expansionism, and U.S. Indian policy.
*American Historial Review*
[P]ersuasive in making his case that a central legal ideology
played a crucial role in justifying American assertions of
jurisdiction over western territory and Native peoples. Miller
convincingly demonstrates that Jefferson understood and applied
elements of the doctrine of discovery in the late eighteenth and
early nineteenth centuries….[M]iller's legal insights provide a
useful contribution to scholarship on Jefferson, Lewis and Clark,
the Louisiana Purchase, the Pacific Northwest, American
expansionism, and U.S. Indian policy.
*American Historical Review*
Robert Miller, in his voluminous work Native America, Discovered
and Conquered, very ably and methodically deconstructs the winking
inexorableness that permeates narrative history of the American
West. In a wholly new and focused voice, Miller traces the Doctrine
of Discovery from its European roots through to its present-day
ramifications on the land tenure of Native American tribes and
resource scarcity issues in the West….What makes Miller's Native
America such a compelling read is not only his unique style but
also his commitment to original scholarly legal research….To say
this book is required reading for those wishing to understand
American history is an understatement. Robert Miller has provided
an opportunity for readers with varying interests….[t]o gain
valuable insight into the interconnected web of religion, conquest,
human rights, land and equity….This is an important time for this
book to be published, and one can hope that it will be well
read.
*We Proceeded On*
To say this book is required reading for those wishing to
understand American history is an understatement. Miller has
provided an opportunity for readers with varying interests from
Constitutional law professor to tribal advocate to public lands
users of all types to gain valuable insight into the interconnected
web of religion, conquest, human rights, land and equity. One comes
away from reading Miller's Native America with a meaningful sense
of how irresponsible, and illusory, a folly it is to allow a sense
of Providence to blindly guide such things as constitutionally
protected rights, domestic and foreign policy with other nations
and the relationship and dominion over Nature and other
nonbelievers. This is an important time for this book to be
published, and one can hope that it will be well read.
*Journalstar.com (Lincoln, NE)*
Former Oregon Congresswoman Elizabeth Furse introduces the shocking
neglect of Indian issues and laws by members of Congress and the
education system. As a member of the Eastern Shawnee Tribe and
Chief Justice, Court of Appeals, Confederated Tribes of the Grande
Ronde Community of Oregon, Miller, notes the book's conception out
of ambivalence over the bicentennial anniversary of the Lewis and
Clark expedition. He traces how the Doctrine of Discovery still
continues to limit Native rights and calls for its end.
*Reference & Research Book News*
In recent decades, scholars have reshaped our understanding of
conquest, and as a result the idea of conquest is an unsettling
one. Robert J. Miller's original and important work should launch a
similar transformation for the idea of discovery. . . . Whether or
not historians agree with Miller's analysis of westward expansion,
they must now address the Doctrine of Discovery and reckon with his
aggressive arguments and compelling conclusions.
*Great Plains Quarterly*
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