 Acts of the General Assembly of Virginia Colony |
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Between 1639 and 1691, Virginia Colony established a series of statutes that increasingly limited the rights of Indigenous and Black residents while expanding the rights of Europeans. These acts reflect the increasing racialization of the colonial legal code.
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| Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl |
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In this case, the Supreme Court ruled that a father who was a member of the Cherokee Nation could not reclaim parental rights of his child under the Indian Child Welfare Act because he never had custody of the child.
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| Affirmative Action's Origins and Legacies |
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This teaching module provides an in-depth look at affirmative action, delving into its origins and tracing its impact to the present day, featuring a webinar with Nebraska Law faculty Eric Berger, Danielle Jefferis, and Catherine Wilson.
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| Albert Wiley v. Moses Keokuk |
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The habeas corpus petition of Moses Keokuk shows legal challenges to Indigenous sovereignty in the late nineteenth century.
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| Amending Indian Appropriation Act of 1892 |
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This excerpted report from the Committee of Public Lands asserted that dispossessed treaty lands and former military reservations should be closer in price per acre to lands distributed under the Homestead Act.
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| American Indian Religious Freedom Act |
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This act amended the 1978 American Indian Religious Freedom Act to allow for the protected use of peyote as a sacrament in traditional religious ceremonies.
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| An act declaring the Negro, Mulatto, and Indian slaves within this dominion, to be real estate |
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Acts passed by the Virginia General Assembly reflected increasing racialization of the colonial legal code.
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| An Act For the removal of restrictions from part of the lands of allottees of the Five Civilized Tribes, and for other purposes |
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This congressional act established Oklahoma county probate courts as the main arbiters of land held by allottees of the Five Tribes. In particular, minors, incompetents, and deceased members of the Five Tribes were targeted for guardian interventions in the probate courts.
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| An Act making compensation to Messrs. Lewis and Clarke, and their companions |
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This Congressional act showed government interest in land appropriation. Exploration by white Americans laid foundations for tribal land dispossession.
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| An Act to Adopt the Negroes of the Chickasaw Nation |
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This tribal law, which was adopted by the Chickasaw Nation on January 10, 1873, called for the adoption of Chickasaw Freedmen as citizens of the Chickasaw Nation. The law included three primary stipulations for the adoption of Chickasaw Freedmen as tribal citizens: first, that Chickasaw Freedmen be excluded from any financial interests in the $300,000 the tribe would receive and any other tribal invested funds or claims; second, that despite these exclusions from monetary benefits, Chickasaw Freedmen be considered fully subject to the "jurisdiction and laws" of the Chickasaw Nation; and third, that the law would go into effect after being approved "by the proper authority of the United States." The law would not be approved by the U.S. Congress until 1894.
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| An Act to Authorize the Sale of Certain Lands to the State of Oklahoma |
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This law authorized the state of Oklahoma to buy land once under the control of tribal nations, as the U.S. government resolved to terminate the special trustee relationship tribes held with the United States, further eroding tribal sovereignty.
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| An act to enable the President of the United States to take possession of the territories ceded by France to the United States |
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This federal law allowed the United States to ratify the Louisiana Purchase Treaty, and reflected United States ambitions toward empire, while ignoring critical issues regarding the incorporation of Native nations.
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| An Act To provide for the appointment of additional judges of the United States court in the Indian Territory, and for other purposes |
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This excerpted congressional act reorganized the federal court system in Indian Territory. The establishment of United States courts worked to undermine tribal judicial systems by asserting broad federal authority over regional criminal and civil disputes.
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| An Act To provide for the care and support of insane persons in the Indian Territory |
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This act weaponized Western medical diagnoses against tribal citizens in Indian Territory for the purpose of incarceration and confinement. Nearly four hundred Native people, from fifty different nations, were confined to the Canton Asylum during its operation from 1902-1934.
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| An Act to Terminate Certain Federal Restrictions upon Indians |
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This act ended federal support for programs on Native reservations, as the U.S. government resolved to terminate the special trustee relationship tribes held with the United States, further eroding tribal sovereignty.
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| Articles of Peace and Amity |
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This treaty, signed between the English colony of Maryland and twelve Eastern Woodland Native American nations, stipulated the rights of Native peoples and their lands and established regulations for interactions between Native Americans and English colonists. The document reflects an already established relationship between the colonists and Native nations by 1666.
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| Brief of Amici Curiae American Historical Association and Organization of American Historians In Support of Federal and Tribal Parties |
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The amicus brief for Haaland v. Brackeen, submitted by the American Historical Association and the Organization of American Historians in support of federal and tribal parties, outlines key historical issues of child removal in tribal communities.
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| Burke Act |
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The Burke Act amended Section 6 of the Dawes Act to explicitly add competency as a legal marker for allottees, tying settler-colonial judgements of social and cultural behavior to land holding.
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| Cherokee Allotment Act |
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Excerpts from this congressional act brought the Cherokee Nation into the federal process of allotment and gave the Dawes Commission exclusive jurisdiction over legal conflicts related to allotment.
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| Cherokee Nation v. the State of Georgia |
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This landmark Supreme Court case in Federal Indian Law introduced the concept of domestic dependent nations. In this case, the Cherokee Nation sued the state of Georgia in an attempt to prevent the enforcement of laws that stripped the Cherokee of their rights and land. The Court ruled that as the Cherokee Nation was a "domestic dependent nation" not a foreign nation, they did not have the legal standing to bring the case to court.
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| Cherokee Removal Order |
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This broadside details the United States Army orders to force Cherokees from their home districts in Tennessee during removal.
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| Civil Liberties Act |
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This act granted reparations to Japanese Americans who had been removed from their homes and interred in camps by the government during World War II. It also made restitution to Native Americans in Alaska who were interred by both the Japanese and Americans.
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| Constitution And By-Laws of the Sac and Fox Tribe of Missouri |
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As part of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, Native American tribes were encouraged to create tribal governments that mirrored the United States government. Many of the tribes' constitutions were essentially the same.
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| Creek Allotment Act |
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This excerpted congressional act brought the Muscogee (Creek) Nation into the federal process of allotment.
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| Creek Supplemental Agreement |
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Excerpts from this supplement to the Creek Agreement of 1901 renegotiated many legal issues related to allotment, including citizenship, leases, and inheritance. In particular, section six voided Creek law over land, descent, and distribution, and replaced it with Mansfield's Digest of the Statutes of Arkansas.
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