Table of Contents

• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Chapter 1. Legal Masks, Legal Consciousness
• Chapter 2. The Era of Defining Tribes, Their Lands, and Their Sovereignty
• Chapter 3. The Era of Congressional Ascendancy over Tribes: 1886-1903
• Chapter 4. The Era of "Myths": Citizenship, Nomadism, and Moral Progress
• Chapter 5. The Era of Judicial Backlash and Land Claims
• Chapter 6. The Era of the Imperial Judiciary
• Chapter 7. Removing the Masks
• Appendix A. Cases Cited
• Appendix B. Supreme Court Justices Authoring the Fifteen Opinions Analyzed
• Notes
• Glossary
• References
• Index

Promotional Information

"This book offers a framework in which Supreme Court decisions can be analyzed and criticized. It is, on account of this framework, a wholly new kind of writing and one that is badly needed." -- Vine Deloria Jr., author of American Indians, American Justice

About the Author

A Lumbee Indian, David E. Wilkins is Associate Professor of Political Science and American Indian Studies at the University of Arizona.

Reviews

A detailed, thorough analysis of 15 US Supreme Court cases involving Native Americans. . . . The cases range from the well-known Johnson v. M’Intosh to the little-known Ward v. Racehorse, but all are instance in which the Court has mistakenly ‘limited or terminated the rights of indigenous peoples.’ In each case the author notes the errors the justices made and the ‘judicial masks’ that have often enabled them to ignore reality and morality. . . . Judicious and persuasive, he provides new information and insights in this important field. A must read for tribal officials, attorneys, judges, public officials, and others concerned with Native American affairs. (Choice)