Customer Reviews

American Indian Law in a Nutshell (In a Nutshell (West Publishing))

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
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I teach federal Indian law to undergraduate and graduate students. This book by Judge Canby is our primary text, supplemented by a 500-page course reader. Although federal Indian law is the most complex body of law in the U.S. legal system, the Canby book gives scholars and novices alike a good educational and reference work on the multitude of subjects that are covered. I recommend it as a 1st source for anyone interested in federal Indian law.

I am currently designing an American Indian Law college course for an assignment at Iowa State University. This text has been extremly useful. It is a dense, informative, must-have for anyone going into or interested in American Indian Law, politics, federal law, historical law or American law. Canby presents legal facts with the historical and current American setiment of the American Indian. He also includes effects on and the general reactions of American Indians to laws past and present, politics are not excluded.

Although I understand the earlier reviewer's concern regarding anti-discrimination law and how miserable law school can be, I have found this book to be the best possible introduction to Indian Law. My law school offered no Indian Law class, and wanting to learn more after I read about the Cobell case, I needed a concise book. Canby has done a wonderful job. His historical introduction is a quick and engrossing read, and the other chapters in the book are equally clear and concise. I owe him much, given that I wrote two papers on Indian Law in law school and quoted extensively from him. Yes, Indian Law is a complex field where tribal sovereignty and the government's trust responsibility often collide and where concepts of jurisdiction and property are seriously muddled, but Canby gives you just what you need to get your legs under you, understand the basic concepts, and know where to begin to research from there.

If the Indian Law bug bites you after reading this book, which it likely will, then you can move on to the 2005 edition of Felix Cohen's Handbook of Federal Indian Law or the 2005 Clinton, Goldberg and Tsosie American Indian Law manual - and spend the big bucks!

I took a course in Federal Indian Law in my 3L year and found this book to be an excellent resource and study tool. It summarized the law nicely and pointed out emerging and unresolved issues in Indian law. It is good at giving both a basic understanding and helping you to think through more sophisticated problems in Indian law. It was indispensable for studying for my final and was very useful as a quick reference while writing a paper on Indian law when I needed to figure out the names of cases that created particular rules or to check whether a case existed that was on point to what I was discussing.

I took an elective in Native American Law at Whittier Law School in Summer 2001. This Nutshell book was the reading for the first day of class and we used a case book for the rest of the classes. I found Judge Canby's writing style very readable and understandable. I used the table of contents for a study outline and the civil and criminal jurisdiction tables were helpful at exam time.

This nutshell is pretty helpful in making sense of the history and jurisdictional mess that is Federal Indian Law. While helpful, it's also pretty redundant...the discussion of criminal and civil jurisdiction overlaps quite a bit, which made it feel like I was reading the same thing over and over. Overall, a good study-aid.

American Indian Law in a Nutshell by William C. Canby, Jr., the distinguished Senior Judge for the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has now reached its 5th edition since its original publication in the early 1980's. I have lived with each edition since the second because of my involvement in Native American policy and governance since 1988.

American Indian Law is a very specialized area of law and one does not enter into a solid understanding of its principles and practices easily. As Judge Canby himself notes, when you speak about American Indian Law, you are first talking about "Federal law about Indians". Such is the focus of Judge Canby's efforts: federal law about Indians.

There is, of course a law of individual Indian nations known as Tribal law. Canby addresses the nature of Tribal law in the context of the rights of Tribes contrasted with the vast Congressional plenary authority over Indian affairs. Executive authority to make Federal Indian policy and carry out the laws is likewise considerable. Then too, with the passage of time Congress and the Federal courts have opened the door for States to have a greater role in Indian affairs because of situations like shared civil and criminal jurisdictin, dual roles in gaming and child welfare but to name just a few.

How does one sort out and comprehend the multiple authorities and jurisdictions? Where can lawyers and policy experts turn to for an initial understanding of American Indian law outside of dense casebooks and advance treatises like Cohen's Handbook of Indian Law (2005)?

The answer is a good primer and American Indian Law in a Nutshell has enjoyed pride of place for more than 30 years. Judge Canby who also use to teach Insian law at Arizona State University is a clear, concise and even-handed guide. He provides a solid historical overview of Federal Indian law and policy--something essential for any further understanding of Indian law; and a clear nderstanding about the scope of Indian law. Likewise, he clears up confusion that can quickly arise about who is an Indian and what is a tribe.

With this foundational background in place, Canby discusses the special relationship between Tribes and the Federal government, the "trust relationship", what Indian tribal governments can do and the nature of Indian sovereignty and significance of Indian treaties. From here, Judge Canby moves forward to the complexities of civil and criminal jurisdiction in Indian Country with a seperate chapter on Public Law 280 granting full or partial civil and criminal jurisdiction to states. The status of Alaska Natives is a special case covered in Chapter XIII.

Taxation, regulation and gaming are at the heart of many of the disputes between Indian tribes and the states wherein they reside as "nations within a nation". Land, fishing, hunting and water rights are also sources of conflict and dispute between tribes, states and the Federal government. The major issues are deliniated with leading case law covered.

It must not be forgotten that Indians are state and Federal citizens while also being citizens of their respective tribes. It is also true that non-Indians also reside on our larger reservations or otherwise come into civil or criminal contact with Indian nations. The Indian Civil Rights Act and its applicability to Indians and non-Indians is discussed.

In 15 broad chapters Judge Canby succeeds in doing what every good primer should do: He covers the essentials of every important topic in a fair and impartial manner. He does so in a manner that is refreshingly free of ideological cant that has crept into some of contemporary American Indian legal literature. Finally, there is another reason to buy Canby's book. Cost. It is just $30.00 compared with $150.00 for Cohen's Handbook and $100 for the American Indian Law Deskbook and another hundred or more for a casebook on Indian law.

Even if you are a specialist in Indian law or policy, Canby's nutshell on Indian law is valuable even as one moves on to the bible of Indian law--Cohen's Handbook of Indian Law.

I recommend this nutshell. It is the only nutshell that I have ever used. But because it had such great reviews I ordered a copy. It really is good. Also, after I got it, the professor actually recommended it!

I had the rare pleasure of studiying this nutshell ( among many dreary ones in law school ) under Justice Canby at the anual human rights convention in Staousbourge in the early 90's.
Of all the nutshells I crammed for those last examns this was the clearest ( though most were very good. ) This once was actually better then most, but I detract one start in recognition of the fact that he was an amazingly charismatic speaker how could have made poor work seem better than it was, than anytime you have someone explaining what they meent it makes things clearer ( and also in rocognition of having another "nutshell" writer prof who sucked).
this Nutshell is well laid out, comprehanesive and interesting. Unlike some of the emanuale ourlines, it presents things in such a was as to encourage natureal reading and understading. I recommend it.

I took Indian Law 7 years ago. I'm hoping this book corresponds to the Notes in a Nutsell for Felix Cohen's text. Indian Law didn't have those highly useful cliff notes on tape. It didn't have those cards with the questions on the front and the answers on the back either. So I needed this Notes in a Nutshell in order to survive. It was essential for writing an outline for the final. Indian law is no cute little topic. The rules that the US has used to jerk Native Americans and their tribes over are not easy to understand. This borrowed much from difficult subjects like civil procedure and property, rather than anti-discrimination law. If you choose to take this class, you will need this book in order to survive it. Then again, I'm a person who hated all aspects of law school, including the subjects that sounded like they'd be interesting.