Overview

"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."

Full Product Details

Author:   Francis Paul Prucha
Publisher:   University of California Press
Imprint:   University of California Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 3.80cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.953kg
ISBN:  

9780520208957

ISBN 10:   0520208951
Pages:   562
Publication Date:   15 March 1997
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Out of stock  
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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

Reviews

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 * 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 * This book will be a standard reference work for the entire profession. . . . an admirable research tool. * Western Historical Quarterly * 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 * 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 * 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 *

Author Information

Francis Paul Prucha, S.J. is Professor Emeritus of History at Marquette University. Among his many books is The Indians in American Society: From the Revolutionary War to the Present (California, 1985).

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