American Indian affairs are much in the public mind today—hotly contested debates over such issues as Indian fishing rights, land claims, and reservation gambling hold our attention. While the unique legal status of American Indians rests on the historical treaty relationship between Indian tribes and the federal government, until now there has been no comprehensive history of these treaties and their role in American life.
Francis Paul Prucha, a leading authority on the history of American Indian affairs, argues that the treaties were a political anomaly from the very beginning. The term "treaty" implies a contract between sovereign independent nations, yet Indians were always in a position of inequality and dependence as negotiators, a fact that complicates their current attempts to regain their rights and tribal sovereignty.
Prucha's impeccably researched book, based on a close analysis of every treaty, makes possible a thorough understanding of a legal dilemma whose legacy is so palpably felt today.
American Indian Treaties The History of a Political Anomaly
About the Book
Reviews
"This is a big book, an important book, sweeping in conception and content. . . . Like Prucha's other works, American Indian Treaties is meticulously researched, well written, and essential reading. It is by intent policy- rather than Indian-centered history."—Journal of American History
"This book will be a standard reference work for the entire profession. . . . an admirable research tool."—Western Historical Quarterly
"By the end of the book, the reader will have a much better understanding of how the policies, resources, and sheer brute force of the federal government manifested in treaties with Native Americans played a central part in the history of 'civilizing' the American 'wilderness.'"—Law and History Review
"For anyone investigating federal Indian policy, this will be an indispensable work. . . . as with any sound historical work, even those who disagree can richly draw on the research. In doing so, they will be aided by a wonderful, old-fashioned innovation that makes the book a joy to engage: footnotes at the bottom of the page. . . . the 130 pages of appendices and notes on sources alone are worth the price."—American Historical Review
"This book should be required reading by people who are interested in federal Indian law . . . Prucha's book is as good a guide as this generation will get. Let us hope that it sparks some enthusiasm for scholarship among Indians."—American Indian Quarterly
"Sources for the study of American Indian treaties will be of great interest to future scholars who pursue this subject. The book will be a valuable reference work for every archive and every college and university library."—Pacific Northwest Quarterly
Table of Contents
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PREFACE
ABBREVIATIONS USED IN FOOTNOTES
INTRODUCTION:
THE ANOMALY OF INDIAN TREATIES
PART ONE. A TREATY SYSTEM
1
The Revolutionary War Years
2
Treaties of Peace after the Revolution
3
Treaty-Making Procedures under the Constitution
4
Confirming the Procedures: Other Treaties in the 1790s
PART TWO.
INSTRUMENTS OF FEDERAL POLICY
5
Testing the Treaty System: 1800 to the War of 1812
6
A Position of Dominance: The War of 1812 and After
7
Indian Removal and the Debate about Treaty Making
8
The Removal Period in the North
9
Patterns in Treaty Making
10
Treaties in the Expanding West
11
The Civil War Decade
PART THREE. DETERIORATION
12
The End of Treaty Making
13
Treaty Substitutes
14
The Collapse of the Treaty System
PART FOUR. RENEWAL:
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
15
Treaties in the New Century
16
Treaties before the Supreme Court
17
Treaty-Rights Activism
APPENDIX A. TREATY DOCUMENTS
AND THEIR PROMULGATION
APPENDIX B.
RATIFIED INDIAN TREATIES
APPENDIX C. RATIFIED AGREEMENTS
WITH INDIAN TRIBES, 1872-1911
APPENDIX D. UNRATIFIED TREATIES
SOURCES FOR THE STUDY OF
AMERICAN INDIAN TREATIES
INDEX
PICTURE CREDITS
Awards
- Oustanding Achievement Recognition, Wisconsin Library Association Library Awards Committee
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