Research Guide
Indigenous Law Portal: General Resources (Law Library of Congress)
Background and Context
Cambridge History of Law in America
Treaties with American Indians : an encyclopedia of rights, conflicts, and sovereignty, ed. by Donald L. Fixico. Santa Barbara, Calif. : ABC-CLIO, 2008. 3 v.
HOLLIS Record
Internet Archive full text
-- v. I. Thematic essays ; Regional essays -- v. II. U.S. and Canadian Indian treaties ; Important treaty sites ; Primary source documents -- v. III. Historical chronology ; Biographies ; Treaty related issues.
The Encyclopedia of Native American legal tradition, ed. by Bruce Elliott Johansen ; foreword by Charles Riley Cloud. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 1998, 410 p.
HOLLIS Record
Subject Terms
Indians of North America -- Legal status, laws, etc.
Indians of North America -- Treaties
Indians of North America -- Government relations
Document Collections
Indigenous Digital Archive Treaties Explorer offers treaties from the US National Archives
HeinOnline American Indian Law Collection includes treaties, federal statutes and regulations, federal case law, tribal codes, constitutions, and jurisprudence. Includes compilations edited by Felix S. Cohen..
ProQuest Indian claims insight (1789- ) offers briefs, docket books, decisions, expert testimony, oral transcripts, legislative histories and congressional publications, Supreme Court decisions and maps.
Library of Congress Collections includes law-related materials for Native Americans, including American Indian Constitutions and Indian Land Cessions Maps.
National Indian Law Library includes links out to sites that contain legal information for indigenous peoples from both the U.S. and other areas of the world.
Indian affairs : laws and treaties, by Charles J. Kappler. 2nd ed. Washington, D.C. : G.P.O., 1904. 2 v. (Document / 58th Congress, 2d session, Senate ; no. 319)
HOLLIS Records
HathiTrust Version
Oklahoma State University digitization
Letters received by the Attorney General, 1809-1870: western law and order, ed. by Frederick S. Calhoun.
Microforms (Lamont) | Film A 936 Level B
Microforms (Lamont) | INDEX Film A 936 = guide Level B
Letters received by the Attorney General, 1871-1884 [microform] : western law and order
Microforms (Lamont) | Film A 936.1 Level B
--Arizona (4 reels) -- Arkansas (5 reels) -- California (6 reels) -- Colorado (2 reels) -- Dakota Territory (3 reels) -- Idaho (2 reels) -- Iowa (2 reels) -- Kansas and Indian Territory (3 reels) -- Louisiana (6 reels) -- Minnesota (2 reels) -- Missouri (5 reels) -- Montana (3 reels) -- Nebraska (2 reels) -- Nevada (1 reel) -- New Mexico (2 reels) -- Oregon (1 reel) -- Texas (7 reels) -- Utah (3 reels) -- Washington and Alaska Territory (2 reels) -- Wyoming (2 reels)
Early American Indian documents: treaties and laws, 1607-1789, ed. by Alden T. Vaughan. Washington, D.C. : University Publications of America, 1979-2004. 20 v.
Widener | WID-LC | KF8202 1979
HOLLIS Record (with volume contents)
--Also includes other related documents. Bibliography of published and unpublished sources at the end of each volume.
Iroquois Indians microform : a documentary history of the diplomacy of the Six Nations and their League (1600s-1920s). 50 microfilm reels.
Microforms (Lamont) | Film A 501
Microforms (Lamont) | INDEX Film A 501 = guide --Includes minutes of council meetings, treaty conferences and negotiations, contracts, treaties and agreements.
Case Law
When a case is appealed to a state or Federal appelate court, the opinion is often published and always published when appealed to the state supreme court. All US Supreme Court opinions are published. The opinions of appellate courts have the force of law within the jurisdiction of the court. The body of these appelate decisions constitute common law.
- Choose Advanced Search
- Select a Specific Content type: Legal
- Narrow to Cases on left.
- Enter your search terms
- Narrow as needed on left
This is a vast database, and searching All Fields often yields too many hits. Limiting to (Party) Names often is best.
The first part of the Case comprises secondary material added by LEXISNEXIS, and, further down, by the state court. The actual opinion begins: OPINION BY: ... OPINION
Topical Searches: Subject terms for additional searches may be drawn from the preliminary secondary material. Note Core Terms. Under Advanced Options, then Build Your Own Segment Search, you can select Core Terms. You can limit the search to Legal Topics.
If you choose Landmark Cases instead of Federal & State Cases, you get a list of selected major cases under topics, including: Civil Rights, Racial Discrimination and Civil Rights, School Desegregation.
Note Shepard's on upper right of each case record. This box contains citations of your case by subsequent cases and in the law review literature.
Caselaw Access Project (1658-2018) includes all official, book-published US case law. Includes all state courts, federal courts, and territorial courts for American Samoa, Dakota Territory, Guam, Native American courts, Navajo Nation, and the Northern Mariana Islands.
Records and Briefs
Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse
Making of Modern Law: U.S. Supreme Court Records and Briefs 1832-1978
Federal Appeals Court Records and Briefs (Georgetown University)
- Supreme Court of the United States - Records and Briefs
- United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit - Records and Briefs, 1899-1929
- United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit - Records and Briefs, 1974- .
ProQuest Supreme Court Insight, 1975-Present. Complete online collection of full opinions from Supreme Court argued cases, including dockets, oral arguments, joint appendices and amicus briefs.
LLMC Digital includes briefs from New York, California and the 7th Circuit. Go to Search Collections, then select the Records & Briefs tab
9th Circuit of the United States Court of Appeals, 1892-1968
Landmark records and briefs of the U.S. Courts of Appeals, 1950-1980
HeinOnline New York Court of Appeals, Records and Briefs includes records and briefs from cases reported in the New York Reports.
Research Guide: Finding Records, Brief & Court Filings (Harvard Law School). Resources labeled Lexis or Westlaw login not available.
Periodicals
Hein Online Legal Journal Collection offers full-text of many law reviews and journals, most starting with volume 1 and extending in some cases to the present. Book reviews, notices, advertisements, etc., are included.
Includes:Index to periodical articles related to law (1958- ) indexes law-related articles in general and other non-law journals not covered by the legal indexes.
Index to legal periodical literature, 1786-1937. (ed. by Jones and Chipman, 6 v.) indexes general and legal periodicals and law reports. -- v. 1. Prior to Jan. 1887.--v. 2. 1887-1899 [i.e. 1898]--v. 3. 1898-1908 [i.e. 1907]--v. 4. 1908-1922.--v. 5. 1923-1927.
Hathitrust Version
Print version:
Widener | Gov 60.24
Law School Reference K33 .I53
Law School K33 .I53
HeinOnline Subject Compilations of State Laws database provides detailed bibliographic information for thousands of articles, books, government documents, loose-leaf services, court opinions and websites that compare or survey state laws. Searchable by topic.
Index to Legal Periodicals Retrospective (1908-1981).
LegalTrac (1980- ) indexes the contents of nearly 1000 English-language legal periodicals, including academic law journals, bar association publications, and legal newspapers, and law-related articles from business and general interest titles.
NexisUni (1970s- ) offers law reviews. Tips for Advanced Search.
- Choose Advanced Search
- Select a Specific Content type: Legal
- Narrow to Law Reviews and Journals on left.
- Choose Law Reviews and Journals (in blue)
- Enter your search terms
- Narrow as needed on left