Courses 2008 - 2009

LAW E 531 Advanced American Indian Law

Credits: 2-3, Max 5

A principal goal of British colonial policies was the acquisition of the lands and resources of the Indigenous communities in the United States, New Zealand, Australia and Canada. In the United States those policies resulted in the decapitalization of the Tribes and the creation of a system of dependence on the federal government for essential human needs. Over the course of the last fifty years, federal law and policy has shifted toward promoting self-determination and economic self-sufficiency for the Tribes through the enactment of laws intended to provide financial capital, and enhance direct Tribal control over lands and natural resources. The course will examine these new laws and their impact on the Tribes in the United States and compare them to the experience of the Indigenous peoples in New Zealand, Australia and Canada.