Native American Law

Watch this short video to learn more about accessing case law through HeinOnline and Westlaw:

Finding Case Law

To find significant/leading cases on Native American law:

• Law Library of Congress' United States Reports (open access)

  Use the Law Library of Congress' United States Reports (open access) to see over 300 decisions of the Supreme Court (from 1793 to date) on Federal Indian and Tribal Law. The reports are PDF replicas of the official printed United States Reports. This database cannot be searched effectively, but you can narrow the topic by using the Subject menu on the lefthand side of the page. 66 subjects are listed.

• Law Library of Congress' United States Reports (open access) Subjects menu

• Westlaw Campus Research

  To find all cases on your topic, we recommend using Westlaw. The two recommended approaches are:
  1. From the homepage, select West Key Number System, and scroll to 209 INDIANS. Use the + symbols to navigate to and click on your topic. The cases are listed by the latest first. You can then narrow your search by jurisdiction, court etc.
  2. Use Advanced Search to look for cases on your topic.

• U.S. Supreme Court Decisions (Cornell's Legal Information Institute)

  Cornell's Legal Information Institute (LII) provides free access to many U.S. Supreme Court decisions. The link above takes you to a search for decisions involving Indian law. You can add your own search terms to further narrow the search results. LII Supreme Court Native American Collection

• Recent Slip Opinions of the U.S. Supreme Court

• United States Reports - U.S. Supreme Court - Bound Volumes 502-567

The 'Marshall Trilogy' is a set of three 19th century Supreme Court decisions that affirmed the legal standing of Indian Nations.

• Johnson v M'Intosh, 21 US (8 Wheat) 543 (1823)

  Johnson v M'Intosh, 21 US (8 Wheat) 543 (1823) held that that private citizens could not purchase lands from Native Americans - the land is inalienable. This decision lays the foundations of the doctrine of aboriginal title in the United States.

• Cherokee Nation v Georgia, 30 US (5 Pet) 1 (1831)

  Cherokee Nation v Georgia, 30 US (5 Pet) 1 (1831) held that Indian Nations were not "foreign nations" with respect to the United States, but 'domestic dependent nation[s]'.

• Worcester v Georgia, 31 US (6 Pet) 515 (1832)

  Worcester v Georgia, 31 US (6 Pet) 515 (1832) is most famous for its dicta, which laid out the relationship between tribes and the state and federal governments by stating that the Federal Government was the sole authority to deal with Indian nations - at 561 the Court held that 'The whole intercourse between the United States and this nation [the Cherokee Nation], is, by our constitution and laws, vested in the government of the United States'. In this case, the Court held that the Cherokee Nation was sovereign, and Georgia had no rights to enforce state laws in this sovereign territory. The decision is credited as having built the foundations of the doctrine of tribal sovereignty in the United States.

• U.S. Code

  The Government Publishing Office (GPO) provides online access to the U.S. Code. Look for the following titles/sections in particular: Title 25 (Indians); Title 28 § 1362 (District Courts Jurisdiction - Indian Tribes); Title 18 § 1151-1170 (Crimes and Criminal Procedure - Indians); Title 42 Chapter 22 (Public Health and Welfare - Indian Hospitals and Health Facilities); and Title 43 Chapter 33 (Public Lands - Alaska Native Claims Settlement).

• Code of Federal Regulations

  The GPO provides online access to the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). Look for the following title in particular: Title 25 (Indians).