About the Book
The arrival of European and Euro-American colonizers in the Americas brought not only physical attacks against Native American tribes, but also further attacks against the sovereignty of these Indian nations. Though the violent tales of the Trail of Tears, Black Hawk's War, and the Battle of Little Big Horn are taught far and wide, the political structure and development of Native American tribes, and the effect of American domination on Native American sovereignty,
have been greatly neglected. This book contains a variety of primary source and other documents--traditional accounts, tribal constitutions, legal codes, business councils, rules
and regulations, BIA agents reports, congressional discourse, intertribal compacts--written both by Natives from many different nations and some non-Natives, that reflect how indigenous peoples continued to exercise a significant measure of self-determination long after it was presumed to have been lost, surrendered, or vanquished. The documents are arranged chronologically, and Wilkins provides brief, introductory essays to each document, placing them within the proper context. Each
introduction is followed by a brief list of suggestions for further reading.Covering a fascinating and relatively unknown period in Native American history, from the earliest examples of
indigenous political writings to the formal constitutions crafted just before the American intervention of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, this anthology will be an invaluable resource for scholars and students of the political development of indigenous peoples the world over.
Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments
List of Native Peoples
List of Documents by Subject
Introduction
Documents:
1: Great Law of Peace, Gayanashagowa (1000--1525?)
2: Laws of Praying Town Indians (1646)
3: Laws of the Cherokee Nation (1808-1817)
4: The Criminal Code of Tenskwatawa (Shawnee Prophet) (1805?)
5: Laws of the Creek Nation (1817-1824)
6: Cherokee Constitution (1827)
7: Description of Winnebago Government by Caleb Atwater, U.S. Commissioner (1829)
8: Laws of the Nez Perce (1844)
9: Constitutional Ordinance of the Seneca Nation (1845)
10: Constitution of the Seneca Nation of Indians (1848)
11: Organization of A New Indian Territory, by George Copway (1850)
12: Ottawa Laws (1850)
13: Constitution of the "Government by Chiefs" of the Seneca Nation of Indians (1854)
14: Chickasaw Nation Constitution (1856)
15: Stockbridge and Munsee Tribe Articles of Union and Confederation (1857)
16: "Proclamation" of Neutrality by John Ross, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation (1861)
17: Laws of the Delaware Nation (1866)
18: Winnebago Tribe Laws and Regulations (1868)
19: Okmulgee Constitution (1870)
20: Howard White, U.S. Indian Agent for the Winnebago Agency (1872)
21: John S. Wood, U.S. Indian Agent for the Blackfeet Agency (1875)
22: J .L. Burchard, U.S. Indian Agent for the Round Valley Reservation (1876)
23: Alex G. Irvine, Navajo Indian Agency (1877)
24: Objectives of the Indian Delegation to a Bill Authorizing an "Indian Delegate" to the U.S. House of Representatives (1878)
25: W. Bird, Agent of the Fort Peck Indian Agency (1878)
26: Benjamin M. Thomas, Agent at the Pueblo and Abiquiu Agencies (1879)
27: John Young, Agent at Blackfeet Agency (1879)
28: Henry R. Mallory, Agent at Colorado River Agency (1879)
29: J. A. Stephen, Agent at Standing Rock Agency (1880)
30: P. B. Hunt, Agent at Kiowa, Comanche, and Wichita Agency (1880)
31: Constitutions of the Osage Nation (1861, 1881)
32: Laws of the Osage Nation (1882)
33: P. B. Sinnett, Agent at Grande Ronde Agency (1884)
34: Benjamin W. Thompson, Agent at Sisseton Agency (1884)
35: Sisseton-Wahpeton Constitution (1884)
36: Constitution of the Sac & Fox Nation (1885)
37: Robert L. Owen, Agent at the Union Indian Agency (1886)
38: Compact Between the Several Tribes Constituting the International Council in Indian Territory (1886)
39: Laws of the Pamunkey Indian Town (1886 or 1887)
40: Charles E. McChesney, Agent at the Cheyenne River Agency (1887)
41: Robert L. Owen, Agent at the Union Agency (Chickasaw people in Indian Territory) (1888)
42: Robert L. Owen, Agent at the Union Agency (Multiple tribes in Indian Territory) (1888)
43: Charter of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (1889, with amendments adopted in 1895 and 1897)
44: Constitution of the Menominee Tribe of Indians (1892)
45: Amended Constitution of the Seneca Nation of Indians (1893)
46: Muscogee Creek Nation Constitution (1894)
47: Dew M. Wisdom, Agent at the Union Agency, Indian Territory (1896)
48: A.E. Woodson, Acting Agent at Cheyenne and Arapaho Agency (1897)
49: Pima Constitution (1901 or 1902)
50: Acts and Resolutions of the General Council of the Choctaw Nation (1904)
51: Menominee Constitution (1904)
52: Constitution of the State of Sequoyah (1906)
53: Unwritten Laws of the Apache (1906)
54: Laws, By-Laws, and Constitution of the Pueblo of Laguna (1908)
55: Right of Indians to Nominate Their Agent or Superintendent (1912)
56: Rules and Regulations for Annette Islands Reserve (1915)
57: Constitutions of the Rosebud Sioux (1916, 1920, and 1924)
58: Alaska Native Brotherhood Constitutions of Grand and Subordinate Camps (1917-1918)
59: Constitution of the Red Lake Band of Anishinaabe (1918)
60: Yurok Laws (1919)
61: Western Shoshone Constitution (1919)
62: Constitution of the Oglala Tribal Council (1921)
63: Assiniboine & Gros Ventre of Ft. Belknap Constitution (1921)
64: By-Laws of the Crow Indians (1922)
65: Constitution of the Cheyenne River Sioux Indians (1923)
66: Constitution and By-Laws of the Menominee Indians (1924)
67: Duwamish Constitution (1925)
68: Constitution and By-Laws of the Oglala Tribal Council (1928)
69: Constitution and By-Laws of the Klamath Business Committee (1929)
70: Governance Within the White Mountain Apache (1929)
71: Trustees of the Puyallup Tribe (1929)
72: Northern and Southern Pueblo Governance (1929)
73: Klamath Indian Corporation (1930)
74: Constitution and By-Laws of the Flathead Business Committee (1930)
75: Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache Council Resolutions and Petitions (1930)
76: Makah Constitutional Discussion (1931)
77: Indian Tribal Councils Act (1932)
78: Removal of Certain Bureau of Indian Affairs Employees (1932)
79: Yankton Sioux Constitution (1932)
80: Concerns of the Western Shoshone Nation (1932)
81: Proposed Organization of the Tribal Advisory Committee of the Prairie Band of Potawatomie of Kansas (1932)
82: Constitution of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians (1932)
83: Constitution of the Hopi Council of New Oraibi (1933)
84: Constitution of the Oglala Sioux Tribe (1933)
85: Constitutions of the Camp McDowell Indians of Arizona (1933)
86: Constitution and By-Laws of the Hoopa Business Council (1933)
Appendix 1: Selected Internet Sites
Notes
Bibliographic Essay
Index
About the Author :
David E. Wilkins holds the E. Claiborne Robins Distinguished Professorship in Leadership Studies at the University of Richmond's Jepson School of Leadership Studies. A member of the Lumbee Nation of North Carolina, he received his doctorate in political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His recent book publications include "Indigenous Governance: Clans, Constitutions, and Consent" (Oxford, 2023); "Documents
of Native American Political Development: 1933-Present" (Oxford, 2019); "American Indian Politics and the American Political System," 4th ed., co-authored with Heidi Stark (Rowman & Littlefield, 2018); "Dismembered: Native
Disenrollment and the Battle for Human Rights," co-authored with Shelly Hulse Wilkins (University of Washington, 2017); and others.
Review :
"An important contribution to the field...Breadth of time and geography characterize this work...For scholars in the field, many of the tribes represented are expected, such as the Cherokee and Iroquois, while many others offer new material for study and comparison. It is this diversity of documents, reflective of the great diversity of tribal experiences, which is the most valuable aspect of this volume...It should be required reading for any serious scholar
studying tribal governance."--Wicazo Sa Review
