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HIST 298A: AMERICAN INDIANS AND AMERICAN LAW

 


Professor Frederick Hoxie

This is a list of electronic and print-format resources designed to facilitate research on Native Americans and the US legal system, past and present.  The emphasis is on government documents and information sources, although a few other relevant publications are included.  The major access tools for each broad subject area are listed at the beginning of each section; the other publications and reference resources are listed in alphabetical order for the most part.  This web page should be used in conjunction with the History 298A bibliography, "Resources for Native American Law," prepared by Jane Williams, UIUC Law Library.

 

Legislative and Legal Resources

Major Access Tools - Current:

  1. LexisNexis Congressional  Licensed for UIUC users only.
    This web-based service, covering 1970-, provides the legislative histories of public laws, access to full-text Congressional publications, and information on members of Congress and Congressional committees.  Includes Congressional Record and US Code.  The service has a new feature, the Statutes-at-Law database.  Search the title and synopsis of laws back to 1789, then view the full text with Adobe® Acrobat® Reader.  See also, CIS Annual 1970-.  015.73C76 (DOC, low bookcases).
  2. Thomas
    Provides access to full-text Congressional publications.
  3. GPO Access Database List
    Provides links to the U.S. government's most important legislative and regulatory online publications.  This information service has a broader scope than that of Thomas.

Major Access Tools - Historical:

  1. CIS U.S. Serial Set Index. 1789-1969.
    015.73C759 (DOC)
    Indexes the 14,000 volumes-and more than 325,000 individual documents--of the U.S. Serial Set.  Each volume of the Serial Set consists of publications that the House and Senate have had printed for their use and distribution, including the following:  Congressional journals, administrative reports, directories, and manuals.  Congressional reports on legislation.  Reports resulting from congressionally commissioned or conducted investigations.  Annual reports of federal agencies.  Research and statistical reports of executive agencies.  Reports of nongovernmental agencies.  The index provides subject and keyword access, as well as finding lists for congressional reports and documents. Note that volumes 2,817 to 13,914 can be found on Deck 1 East of the STX in print format. All other volumes are available on microfiche in the Government Documents Library.
  2. CIS U.S. Congressional Committee Hearings Index. 1833-1969.
    015.73C497 (DOC)
    Indexes the text of committee hearings, most of which contain valuable expert testimony.  Includes a Personal Name index and an Index by Subjects and Organizations. The Reference Bibliography gives complete bibliographical data--as well as the page number where each witness's testimony begins--for each hearing. Search the online catalog for the call number and location of each title that appears in the Reference Bibliography. 
  3. CIS U.S. Congressional Committee Prints Index: From the Earliest Publications through 1969. 
    015.73C762c (DOC).
    Covers the monographic studies, analyses of bills, confidential staff reports, reference works, and hearings excerpts produced by congressional committee staff. 
  4. Congressional Research Service Index. 1916-.
    CDROM015.73C749 (DOC Computer Workstation #6)
    This CD-ROM provides access to Major Studies and Issue Briefs of the Congressional Research Service, a microform set that includes documents on nearly all topics of interest to Congress from 1914-15 to the present. The microfilm set for 1914-15 to 1990 can be found under the call number FILM328.37M282 in the STX. The microfiche that covers 1991 to the present is located under the call number MFICHE328.37M282 in DOC. Note that some of these studies are also available in paper and can be accessed through the online catalog.

Publications and Reference Sources

Congress and the Nation: A Review of Government and Politics.
320.973C76 (DOC)
Covers Congressional activity for the years 1945 to 1992.

Congressional Record. 1873-. 
1873-1975 Q.328.731Un34 (STX); 1976- DOC.X: (STX and DOC) 
A daily account of Congressional proceedings. Includes its own cumulated indexes for each year. Members of Congress are allowed to edit their remarks before publication. 

Congressional Quarterly Almanac, v. 4, 1948-. 
328.7305COQ (DOC) 
No source provides a better overview of Congressional activity in various spheres during a given year.  

CQ Weekly Report, v. 14, 1956-. 
328.7305COQA (DOC) 
Consult this publication when seeking more current information or more detail than the Congressional Quarterly Almanac offers.  To find its indexes, go to the yellow pages.

General Accounting Office
The GAO performs audits and evaluations of government programs and activities.  While some GAO reviews are required by law, the majority are undertaken through the request of a Congressional committee.  The Government Documents Library's depository copies of GAO reports are in microfiche format,  MFICHEDOC.GA1.13: (DOC); selected reports published prior to 1998 are also available in paper format, DOC.GA1.13: (STX).

Indian Affairs:  Laws and Treaties , Oklahoma State University Library Digital Publications
From v. II (Treaties) in part.  Comp. and ed. by Charles J. Kappler.  Washington:  USGPO, 1904.

Native American  Legal Resources, The University of Oklahoma Law Center

Office of Tribal Justice, US Department of Justice

Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, US Congress

US Code
All general and permanent laws of the United States in effect as of 1996.

If you need help in understanding the legislative process (don't we all?), try one of the following online guides:

 

Executive Branch Resources

Major Access Tools - Historical:

  1. CIS Index to U.S. Executive Branch Documents, 1789-1909 and CIS Index to U.S. Executive Branch Documents, 1910-1932.
    Q.015.730534C497 (DOC)
    Q.015.730534C4971910-1932 (DOC)
    Main bibliography for Executive agency publications not published in the US Serial Set.  This title presents a complete annotated bibliography of all Executive Branch documents listed in the Checklist of Public Documents, 1789-1909. The introduction states that "the Checklist was the only systematic effort to provide a complete listing of all documents published by the U.S. Government in its first 120 years."

Publications and Reference Sources:

Selected Primary Agencies

Boyd, Anne Morris.  United States Government Publications.  3d ed., rev. by Rae Elizabeth Rips.  New York:  H. W. Wilson, 1949.
015.732B69u1949 (DOC)
Important one-volume guide to federal government agencies and offices in existence at the time.  Its purpose is to describe the publications issued by these government bodies; helpful descriptions of their evolving organizational structure and functions are included.  An example is one predecessor of the US Department of Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Office of Indian Affairs (originally in the War Department), and the bibliographical history of  its Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1825-date, is also provided.

Code of Federal Regulations
DOC.AE2.106/3: (DOC, west wall)
Agency regulations.  The Code of Federal Regulations/CFR is the body of rules developed by executive departments and agencies of the U.S. Government in order to implement the mandates of public law.  Title 25, Indians contains current rules of the Executive departments and agencies about Native Americans and Native American affairs.  Title 3 contains all Presidential Executive Orders, 1862-current. See also 353.03H62p1944a (DOC, west wall) and 353C6481949v.3sup. (DOC, west wall).

Whitnah, Donald R., ed.  Government Agencies.  Westport, CT:  Greenwood Press, 1983.  (The Greenwood Encyclopedia of American Institutions [no. 7])
353.04G746 (DOC)
Outstanding compilation of brief, yet detailed histories of federal agencies.  Contrast  its description of the Bureau of  Indian Affairs with that provided in Boyd and Rips (see above entry).  Includes, for example, succinct explanation of the Johnson-O'Malley Act of 1934 (48 Stat. 596).  Excellent bibliographies of scholarly resources appear at the end of each entry.  As an example, additional information on the BIA cites the Bureau of Indian Affairs Management Study (1976), the Bibliographical Guide to the History of Indian-White Relations in the United States (1977), and numerous other titles.

 

Historical Government Information Resources

Major Access Tools:

  1. Cumulative Subject Index to the Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications, 1900-1971.  15 v.  Washington & Inverness:  Carrollton Press, 1973.
    015.73Un35index1900-1971 (DOC)
      Topical access to US government documents that are listed in the MOCAT.  For example, there are approximately 60 entries under Blackfeet Indian project, Blackfeet Indians, Blackfeet Reservation, Blackfeet Sioux Indians, etc.
  2. Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications, 1895-.
    Washington, DC:  USGPO.
    015.73Un35  (DOC)
    DOC.GP3.8/8:  (DOC)
    The main bibliographic tool for US government documents.  Often called MOCAT.  In its e-format, it is entitled the Catalog of U.S. Government Publications .
  3. PAIS (Public Affairs Information Service)
    Q. 016.3 P1662 (REX)
    PAIS International, 1915- is a bibliographic and indexing tool that covers the scholarly literature in the fields of economics, political science and public affairs.  It's an excellent guide to journal articles and publications on public policy and social issues.  It's also unique in that it has references to government reports, including congressional hearings.

Publications and Reference Sources

American Indians:  A Select Catalog of National Archives Microfilm Publications.  Washington, DC:  US General Services Administration, National Archives Trust Fund Board, 1984.
DOC.AE1.2:In2 (DOC)
The UIUC Library has selected holdings of the National Archives microfilms.

American Native Press Archives, University of Arkansas at Little Rock

Guide to Federal Records in the National Archives of the United States.  3 v.  Washington, DC:  National Archives and Records Administration, 1995.
DOC.AE1.108:G94/v.1-3 (DOC)

Handbook of North American Indians.  Washington, DC:  Smithsonian Institution, 1988-
970.402H191 (REX)
A 20-vol. encyclopedic set on the prehistory, history and cultures of Native Americans.  v. 4, History of Indian White Relations; v. 11, Great Basin, etc.  Extensive bibliographies.  (Most vols. have been published, although the set is not as yet complete.)

Hodge, Frederick Webb, ed.  Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico. 2 v.   (Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 30).  Also, US Serial Set v. 5001-5002.   Washington, DC:  USGPO, 1907.
970.1H66h (REX)

Hoffmann, John, ed.  A Guide to the History of Illinois.  New York:  Greenwood Press, 1991.  (Reference Guides to State History and Research)
016.9773G941 (DOC)

Many Nations:  A Library of Congress Resource Guide for the Study of Indian and Alaska  Native Peoples of the United States.
DOC.LC1.6/4:N21 (DOC)
Washington:  Library of Congress, 1996.
An outstanding one-volume guide to the collections at the Library of Congress concerning Native Americans.  Useful for obtaining brief introductions to specific subjects, e.g., removal and relocation, and as a first step in identifying pertinent information resources.  The UIUC Library will have selected materials described in this publication.

Swanton, John R.  The Indian Tribes of North America.  (Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 145).  Washington, DC:  USGPO, 1952.
970.1Sw2i (REX)

US Census and Other Data Resources

Major Access Tool - Current:

  1. LexisNexis Statistical  For UIUC users only.
    This database indexes and abstracts statistical tables issued by commercial publishers, state governments, the U.S. government, and international organizations.  Selected tables published by the U.S. government and included in the LexisNexis Statistical component known as the American Statistics Index/ASI are available online.

Publications and Reference Sources

American Indian and Alaska Native Populations, Bureau of the Census
1990 Census of Population and Housing statistics, recent population estimates, etc.

1990 Census of Population and Housing , Government Information Sharing Project, Oregon State University
Includes American Indian and Alaska Native area reports for Summary Tape Files -  STF1C and STF3C.

1990 Census of Population, Characteristics of American Indians by Tribe and Language.  2 v.  Washington, DC:  US Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, 1994.
DOC.C3.223/10:1990CP-3-7/v.1-2 (DOC, south wall)
CDROMDOC.C3.285:CD90SSTF13 (DOC)

1990 Census of Population, Social and Economic Characteristics, American Indian and Alaska Native Areas.  2 v.  Washington, DC:  US Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, 1993 .
DOC.C3.223/7-2:990CP-2-1A/sec.1-2 (DOC, south wall)

Schoolcraft, Henry Rowe.  The American Indians.  rev. ed.  Rochester, 1851.
970.1Sch601851 (IHX cage, noncirculating)

Statistical Abstract of the United States
DOC.C3.134: (DOC) 1878-present
When seeking statistics on the United States, start here.  The level of detail and breadth of coverage may surprise you.  If you are in the Government Documents Library, you will probably save time by locating the print version of this title.  Note that the index in more recent years refers the user to table numbers, not page numbers.

U.S. Bureau of the Census, Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to the 1970, Bicentennial Edition.  Parts 1-2.  Washington, DC:  1975.
q.317.3UN315hi1976, v.1-2 (DOC)
Includes 100s of tables of statistical information on a broad range of subjects, not only demographic information.  One of the best starting places for identifying historical data.  It has extensive annotations on sources that contain more detailed information. It's a handy 2-vol. compendium of data, and an excellent guide to primary and/or published statistical resources in both government documents and reports, and other types of publications.

US Department of the Interior, Census Office.  Report on Indians Taxed and Indians Not Taxed in the United States (except Alaska) at the Eleventh Census, 1890.  Washington, DC:  USGPO, 1894.
Q.317.3Un3111993, v. 17 (DOC, Oversize, east wall)
683+  pp. of information, primarily statistical, concerning Native Americans.  Includes data, in introductory material, collected prior to "official" US Census counts in 1880 and 1890.  Remarkable compendium that includes substantial textual information, col. illus., and reproductions of photographs, as well as maps.  A must-see historical US Census publication.  The Tenth Census of the US, 1880, provides extensive coverage on Alaska, including its native peoples and the region's resources, see Q.317.3Un31o1991v.8 (DOC, Oversize, east wall).

United States Historical Census Data Browser
The data presented here describe the people and the economy of the US for each state and county from 1790 to 1970. The data displayed here were inititally created by ICPSR under study number 0003, "Historical Demographic, Economic and Social Data:  The United States, 1790-1970.

We the First Americans, Bureau of the Census

 

Additional E-Resources

Non-Governmental

More About Library Tools

Center for Research Libraries

The UIUC Library is a member of the CRL consortium, which makes scholarly materials, such as archival manuscripts, foreign dissertations, and newspaper backfiles available for free to researchers.  The CRL Handbook describes the collections, e.g., see Indians of North America, and the Center's online catalog is accessible via the web.  For help with these access tools, contact a Government Documents Librarian.  CRL collections can be used on site in Chicago or obtained via interlibrary loan.  For more information on borrowing inquire at the UIUC Library's Illinois Reference & Research Center's Borrowing Office.

CICVEL

 This is a relatively new service where patrons may search and order directly from the CIC (Big Ten Universities) library catalogs. Delivery from CIC libraries is expedited with 48-72 hour courier delivery. With processing time added, this means that many loans from CIC libraries may be available in 7 working days. 

National Archives and Records Centers

Archival holdings from Federal agencies and courts in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin.  Records center holdings from Federal agencies in Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, and from Federal courts in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin.  Microfilm holdings.