LibGuides: American Indian and Indigenous Law Resources: Treaties

Online Treaty sources

This bibliograpy by Beth DiFelice, published in 2015 in Law Library Journal and available through SSRN, provides an overview of the treaty process between the U.S. federal government and Indian tribes and the termination of the federal government's power to enter into treaties with Indian nations in 1871. It also provides description of treaty sources for research, focusing on primary sources.

Indian Affairs: Laws & Treaties compiled and edited by Charles J. Kappler

The Oklahoma State University Library provides free access to Charles J. Kappler's seven-volume compilation of texts of treaties, laws, and executive orders. This is considered the primary source for these dcouments. Volume two has the text of ratified treaties (1778-1883) with an alphabetical index by tribe.

Also available on HeinOnline (on campus or USC login required).

Early Recognized Treaties with American Indian Nations

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Center for Digital Research in the Humanities provides free access to its collection nine treaties created between 1722 and 1805, not included in the Kappler's or Statutes at Large. This collection is available through the American Indian Treaties Portal. Included on the portal landing page (scroll to the bottom) are links to journal articles authored or co-authored by Charles D. Bernholz on American Indian treaties cited by courts. Articles cover treaties cited by the United States Supreme Court, lower federal courts, the Court of Claims, state courts, and territorial courts. There are also articles on treaties absent from federal court proceedings.

United States Statutes at Large, Volumes 1 to 18 (1789-1875)

The United States Statutes at Large is the permanent collection of laws enacted and resolutions enacting during each Congressional session. The statutes are published chronologically. The Library of Congress American Memory Project provides free access to these volumes. Volume 7 is a compilation of Indian treaties, 1778-1842. Treaties also appear at end of subsequent volumes and intermingled with foreign treaties. After 1871, treaty-making continued by formal agreements and executive orders. Check indexes for laws affecting treaties. Westlaw and Lexis Advance (password required) and HeinOnline (USC ID, campus) also include access.

Yale Law School Goldman Law Library Avalon Project

This site provides free access Treaties between the United States and Native Americans (1778-1868) and the Jay Treaty of 1794 and Associated Documents dealing with American Indians in both the U.S. and Canada.

Subscription Services

HeinOnline American Indian Law Collection

With nearly 1,000 titles unique to this collection and more than 1.2 million total pages dedicated to American Indian Law, this library includes an expansive archive of treaties, federal statutes and regulations, federal case law, tribal codes, constitutions, and jurisprudence. This library also features rare compilations edited by Felix S. Cohen that have never before been accessible online. Access on campus or with USC ID.

Native American People Treaties, Ratified and Unratified

Lexis+ (password required) and Nexis Uni (must be on campus network or have current USC status to access remotely) provide access to the full text of treaties, ratified and un-ratified from 1787-1883.

Selected Resources for Treaties & Treaty making from our catalog

This is a listing of selected resources in our library. By searching our catalog using the terms "Native American" and Treaty or treaties you may find other resources as well both on the shelves and available online..

Documents of American Indian Diplomacy (2 Volume Set) by Vine Deloria; Raymond J. DeMallie; Vine Deloria
Call Number: KF8202 1999
ISBN: 9780806131184
Publication Date: 1999-12-15
Reproduced in this two-volume set are hundreds of treaties and agreements made by Indian nations--with, among others, the Continental Congress; England, Spain, and other foreign countries; the Republic of Texas and the Confederate States; railroad companies seeking rights-of-way across Indian land; and other Indian nations. Many were made with the United States but either remained unratified by Congress or were rejected by the Indians themselves after the Senate amended them. Many others are "agreements" made after U.S. treaty making with Indian tribes officially ended in 1871. These documents--augmented by chapter introductions that concisely set each type of treaty in its historical and political context--these documents effectively trace the evolution of American Indian diplomacy in the United States. This volume is the first major accessible compilation since Charles Kappler's 1904 Indian Affairs, Laws and Treaties. As a group, these documents highlight American Indians' roles as active agents in international diplomatic affairs.
Early American Indian Documents by John T. Juricek (Editor)
Call Number: KF8202 1979
ISBN: 9780890931806
Publication Date: 1979
This 20-volume set includes the text of treaties between Native Americans and colonial governments. The set also includes documents such as land sales, conference records, council minutes, and commissioners’ reports.
A Bibliography of the English Colonial Treaties with the American Indians by Henry F. De Puy
ISBN: 0404071236
Publication Date: 1971-01-01
Available from HeinOnLine's World Treaty Library (USC ID or on-campus access only)
De Puy provides a synopsis of each treaty in this bibliography of the English colonial treaties with the American Indians.
Indian Treaties in the United States by Donald L. Fixico (Editor)
ISBN: 9781440860485
Publication Date: 2018-05-03
Available online from Ebscohost Ebooks Comprehensive Academic Collection (North America) (USC ID or on-campus access only)
This book examines the treaties that promised self-government, financial assistance, cultural protections, and land to the more than 565 tribes of North America (including Alaska, Hawaii, and Canada).Prior to contact with Europeans and, later, Americans, American Indian treaties assumed unique dimensions, often involving lengthy ceremonial meetings during which gifts were exchanged. Europeans and Americans would irrevocably alter the ways in which treaties were negotiated: for example, treaties no longer constituted oral agreements but rather written documents, though both parties generally lacked understanding of the other's culture. The political consequences of treaty negotiations continue to define the legal status of the more than 565 federally recognized tribes today. These and other aspects of treaty-making will be explored in this single-volume work, which serves to fill a gap in the study of both American history and Native American history. The history of treaty making covers a wide historical swath dating from the earliest treaty in 1788 to latest one negotiated in 1917. Despite the end of formal treaties largely by the end of the 19th century, Native relations with the federal government continued on with the move to reservations and later formal land allotment under the Dawes Act of 1887.
American Indian Treaties by Francis Paul Prucha
ISBN: 0520208951
Publication Date: 1997-03-15
Available online from Ebscohost (USC ID or on-campus access only).
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.