The Encyclopedia of Native American Legal Tradition [Hardcover]

Bruce E. Johansen (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0313301670 | ISBN-13: 978-0313301674 | Publication Date: February 28, 1998

Integrating American Indian law and Native American political and legal traditions, this encyclopedia includes detailed descriptions of nearly two dozen Native American Nations' legal and political systems such as the Iroquois, Cherokee, Choctaw, Navajo, Cheyenne, Creek, Chickasaw, Comanche, Sioux, Pueblo, Mandan, Wyandot, Powhatan, Mikmaq, and Yakima. Although not an Indian law casebook, this work does contain outlines of many major Indian law cases, congressional acts, and treaties. It also contains profiles of individuals important to the evolution of Indian law. This work will be of interest to scholars in several fields, including law, Native American studies, American history, political science, anthropology, and sociology.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

According to the introduction, this "is the first attempt in book form to inject traditional Native American political and legal systems into the study of law in the United States. It includes detailed descriptions of several major Native American nations' legal and political systems." The book not only infuses this information into the study of law but fills the gaps in many standard history and general social science sources.

The editor and the 12 contributors have produced a readable work for a range of ages and levels of interest. The entries, which are alphabetically arranged, cover pre-colonial as well as modern times. They include constitutional law of tribes, and codes of behavior that are part of the Native American environment, such as the Harmony Ethic of the Cherokee. Major law cases, congressional acts, and treaties are also included, as are historical incidents and profiles of individuals like Andrew Jackson, John Marshall, and Thomas Sloan, one of the first Native Americans to be admitted to practice before a state bar. Some entries are a paragraph in length, while others, such as Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) women, legal and political status; and religious freedom, Native American, cover several pages. Added notes and further readings follow some articles. An 11-page selected bibliography, listing sources primarily from journals and university presses, and an index complete the work.

This encyclopedia is highly recommended for any examination or investigation of constitutional or judicial law in the U.S. It will find use in a public, high-school, or academic library. It will round out many studies and give a fresh perspective to the "founding" of this democracy.

Review

"The Encyclopedia of Native American Legal Tradition appears at a particularly propitious time. Bruce E. Johansen has produced a valuable and accessible reference work, useful to academic researchers but largely free of legal jargon. More significantly, he has filled a gap left by similar recent works such as the American Indian Law Deskbook by placing special emphasis on the impact of aboriginal legal traditions on Anglo-American legal doctrine....Johansen has produced a volume that will prove valuable to the specialist and lay reader alike. Legal and Native American historians will find it useful for a quick review of the case law, legislation, a helpful introduction to the impact and significance of Indian law on American jurisprudence. This is an important addition to the legal history reference shelf."-Great Plains Research

Product Details

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: Greenwood (February 28, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0313301670
• ISBN-13: 978-0313301674
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,553,672 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #12 in Books > Law > Perspectives on Law > Customary