Overview

Robert Williams attempts to write Indians back into Indian law by developing a greater appreciation for the contributions of American Indian legal visions and demonstrating how ancient treaty visions can speak to the modern, multicultural age. Prior to European colonization, in countless treaties, councils, and negotiations, American Indians had adhered to the principles contained in traditional rituals such as the Gus-Wen-Tah, the sacred treaty belt, for achieving justice between different peoples. Throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the survival of the European colonies in North America required reaching accommodation with surrounding Indian tribes. However, European Common law and the white man's Indian law eventually became dominant, and came to be regarded as the salvation of the Indian in North America. Williams maintains there is an important need for a more complete account of the legal visions of the American Indians. In this work, he examines the Indians' role in the history of legal traditions which have determined Indian rights in the U.S., including the Indian conceptions of justice, their traditions, and practices. Doing so is essential to protecting Indian tribalism's survival under U.S. law. In addition, understanding how the American Indian legal traditions have worked to help perpetuate Indian tribalism might also assist in beginning to understand how U.S. law may achieve racial justice more generally.

Full Product Details

9780195065916

Table of Contents

Reviews

Pathbreaking. --Choice<br> Williams offers a compelling description of Indian diplomatic visions and methods. It is a rich addition to the literature. --The Law and Politics Book Review<br> .,. Linking Arms Together makes a good start at reconstructing Indian legal thought. It is well worth reading for anyone interested in the relationship between law and multiculturalism. --Western Historical Quarterly<br> .,. impressive: an ambitious and deeply suggestive effort to illuminate indigenous thought at the time of the European encounter and put it back in the history of Indian-white relations and federal Indian law- where it belongs. --The Annals of the American Academy<br>

Pathbreaking. Choice

Author Information

Robert A. Williams, Jr. is Professor of Law and American Indian Studies at the University of Arizona at Tucson. He is the author of the highly-regarded work The American Indian in Western Legal Thought (Oxford, 1990).

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available