The Rights of Indians and Tribes

Fourth Edition

Stephen L. Pevar

Addresses every significant legal issue facing Indians and Tribes in a concise, accessible format
Author Stephen Pevar possess over 40 years of experience as a counsel for the ACLU combined with a extensive academic and lecturing experience
Incorporates a user-friendly question-and-answer format
Unique in its comprehensive treatment of the law as it applies to Indians and Tribes

New to this Edition:

Includes a new Introduction by the Executive Director of the Native American Rights Fund, John Echohawk
Fully updated from the previous edition, including much new legislation and judicial decisions.

The Rights of Indians and Tribes

Fourth Edition

Stephen L. Pevar

Description

The Rights of Indians and Tribes, first published in 1983, has sold over 100,000 copies and is the most popular resource in the field of Federal Indian Law. The book, which explains this complex subject in a clear and easy-to-understand way, is particularly useful for tribal advocates, government officials, students, practitioners of Indian law, and the general public. Numerous tribal leaders highly recommend this book. Incorporating a user-friendly question-and-answer format, The Rights of Indians and Tribes addresses the most significant legal issues facing Indians and Indian tribes today, including tribal sovereignty, the federal trust responsibility, the regulation of non-Indians on reservations, Indian treaties, the Indian Civil Rights Act, the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, and the Indian Child Welfare Act. This fully-updated new edition features an introduction by John Echohawk, Executive Director of the Native American Rights Fund.

The Rights of Indians and Tribes

Fourth Edition

Stephen L. Pevar

INTRODUCTION: John Echohawk, Executive Director, Native American Rights Fund
Preface
Map: Indian Reservations and Communities in the United States

I. A History of Federal Indian Policy
II. Definitions: Indian, Indian Tribe, Indian Country, and Indian Title
III. The Trust Responsibility
IV. Indian Treaties
V. Federal Power over Indian Affairs
VI. Tribal Self-Government
VII. State Power over Indian Affairs
VIII. Criminal Jurisdiction in Indian Country
IX. Civil Jurisdiction in Indian Country
X. Taxation
XI. Indian HUnting and Fishing Rights
XII. Indian Water Rights
XIII. Civil Rights of Indians
XIV. The Indian Civil Rights Act
XV. The Unique Status of Certain Indian Groups
XVI. Indian Gaming
XVII. The Indian Child Welfare Act
XVIII. Judical Review

The Rights of Indians and Tribes

Fourth Edition

Stephen L. Pevar

Author Information

Stephen L. Pevar is a senior staff counsel of the American Civil Liberties Union and an adjunct professor at NYU Law School, teaching American Indian Law. Mr. Pevar worked for Legal Services on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation from 1971-1974, and taught Federal Indian Law at the University of Denver School of Law from 1983-1999. He has litigated numerous Indian rights cases and has lectured extensively on the subject.

The Rights of Indians and Tribes

Fourth Edition

Stephen L. Pevar

Reviews and Awards

"As a tribal leader, I have found Stephen Pevar's book to be both an excellent and useful resource." --W. Ron Allen, Chairman, Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe, and Treasurer of the National Congress of American Indians

"Every Indian should read this book." --Suzan Shown Harjo, President, The Morning Star Institute (Cheyenne & Hodulgee Muscogee)

"Stephen Pevar's book is an indispensable part of the toolkit for American Indian lawyers, leaders, and scholars. Nothing is a more accessible, comprehensive, and realistic treatment of modern day tribal sovereignty than The Rights of Indians and Tribes. This was my introduction to Indian law and still frames much of my thinking on the future of Indian law and policy. Another edition of Pevar's ground-breaking work is just cause for celebration." --Matthew Fletcher, Michigan State University College of Law

"This is a remarkable book, and there is nothing else like it. It explains the complex subject of federal Indian law in a clear and concise way. Both lawyers and non-lawyers will find this book very helpful, as I have." --Honorable BJ Jones, Chief Judge of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate and Prairie Island Indian Community, and Director of the Tribal Judicial Institute, University of North Dakota School of Law

"I highly recommend this book. Many federal employees, including myself, rely on it. The book gives clear, useful, and well-documented answers for anyone approaching the vast and often intimidating subject of federal Indian law." --Lori Windle, Vice-Chair, Society of American Indian Government Employees (Minnesota Chippewa, White Earth)

"In this updated edition of his landmark 1983 work, Stephen L. Pevar continues his decades-long effort to distill the intricacies of Indian law into an easy-to-understand format that will help Indian tribes vindicate their rights and their sovereignty. Mr. Pevar concisely explains important concepts in Indian law through a question-and-answer format, drawing on history, case law, legal scholarship, and sociology to explain not only what the state of Indian law is, but also why it has come to be that way, taking into account major recent developments in Indian law...The book contains a number of useful maps, lists, and charts, as well as the texts of major Indian law statutes and over 130 pages of helpful footnotes. Mr. Pevar's work will be of interest to legal scholars, historians, Indian law litigators, and Indian rights activists alike." --Harvard Law Review

"Pevar has a gift for explaining complex issues of federal Indian law, and his book has the unique quality of being scholarly, but accessible. Reading his book from cover-to-cover is required in our MTAG graduate program." -Professor Tadd M. Johnson, Esq., Director, Master of Tribal Administration and Governance Program (University of Minnesota Duluth), former NIGC Chair, and former Staff Director of the US House Subcommittee on Native American Affairs

"We used Pevar's book as the sole book of the [Certificate Program in Tribal Leadership & Governance] and everyone loved it."--Crystal Blue, Project Manager, California Tribal College

The Rights of Indians and Tribes

Fourth Edition

Stephen L. Pevar

From Our Blog

Thanksgiving? The deprivations and atrocities that followed

By Stephen L. Pevar Every schoolchild is taught that the holiday of Thanksgiving commemorates the feast the Pilgrims arranged to thank the Indians for their friendship, for sharing their land, and for showing them how to grow, harvest, and store food. Accounts say that the generosity of the Indians saved the colonists from starvation during the harsh New England winter of 1620.

Posted on November 27, 2013

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The Dawes Act: How Congress tried to destroy Indian reservations

How would you feel if the government confiscated your land, sold it to someone else, and tried to force you to change your way of life, all the while telling you it's for your own good? That's what Congress did to Indian tribes 125 years ago today when, with devastating results, it passed the Dawes Act.

Posted on February 8, 2012

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