Joe Leavengood

Excerpted from: Joe Leavengood, Finding the Law on the Rez: an Overview of Researching Indian Law in  Idaho and on the Internet , 46-MAR Advocate (Idaho) 28-30 (March, 2003)

It has been said that modern Mexico has skipped a technological generation by going from no phones straight to cell phones. In large measure, Indian law has done the same, going from relatively few printed materials to a solid collection of materials available only on the Internet. Here are some online resources to consider:

My library school is Emporia State University, which, while based in Kansas, teaches classes around the West for states that have no library schools. I'm not sure why the people in Kansas are so into their librarianship, but two of the best sites for Indian law are also from the Flint Hills of Eastern Kansas, out of Washburn University of Kansas University:

Washburn University, which put Cohen's entire book online, ,maintains an Indian Law website called Native American Web: http:// www.washlaw.edu/doclaw/nativ5m.html

Washburn's Law Library has for a while now had a reputation for taking advantage of the latest technologies for getting researchers to their information. This site reflects Washburn's comprehensive nature, including even links to listservs for Indian law practitioners and researchers. It includes links to places that practitioners will find useful, but which librarians and webpage designers wouldn't necessarily think of--such as Department of Justice programs, and resources for American Indians interested in studying law. If I didn't already know where to find what I'm looking for, I'd start here.

The University of Kansas School of Law Library weighs in at http:// www.law.ku.edu/library/tribal.html

I'm sure many librarians would consider this a great site. It includes a list of materials in the KU library, with finding aids that can help you spot other similar materials. KU apparently put a little thought into its collection, adding books such as the Navajo Nation Code, frequently used by practitioners not just in the Southwest, but also as a comparison tool for other tribes in developing their own codes. Right on the same page as the printed materials are links to a variety of other sources and tools.

The Specialists

The Native American Rights Fund's National Indian Law Library can be found online at http://www.narf.org/nill/research/secondarylaw.htm.

This Boulder, Colorado library, provides the most comprehensive site on Indian law, and it may be just too much for some researchers. Although I've never had occasion to use it, NILL provides an ask-a-librarian service (via the website) or via telephone at 303-447-8760. Because NARF weighs in on many Indian Law Issues, there are potential conflict of interest concerns, but NILL operates separately for the most part. Its website links are comprehensive and organized by subtopics within Indian law. For example, there are lists of links to items on Indian gaming, mascots, trust funds, grave sites, and the all important matter of Indian Country jurisdiction. The website also provides a descriptive list of general reference materials on American Indians today. NARF also provides a number of publications addressing various areas of Indian law, and both a collection and index to Indian Claims Commission Decisions (1946 to 1978).

The Tribal Law and Policy Center has developed the Tribal Court Clearinghouse at http://www.tribal-institute.org/lists/about.htm. If you are looking for materials from a particular tribe, this is your best bet. However, while the listings include hundreds of tribes, they still have some significant gaps, such as anything Navajo, or any thing from Idaho's tribes other than the Nez Perce. There are great materials here on model tribal codes and on environmental codes. (Federal environmental laws allow tribes to develop environmental codes and standards much as if they were states to regulate air and water in Indian Country, so this area has spurred more tribal codification than any other administrative area of law).

We're From The Government And We're Here To Help

Two government agencies maintain Indian law resources sites:

The Library of Congress is at http://www.loc.gove/law/guide/usnative.html. This is not the comprehensive list that you might expect. Its greatest value might be its list of agencies and organizations, and its list of links to other research sites, that is as comprehensive as Washburn Law's list.

The Department of the Interior, which encompasses the Bureau of Indian Affairs, maintains a site at http://www.doi.gov/diversity/8indian.htm. This is a fairly  comprehensive list, with descriptions of the material at each link, but not organized by subject or type. It can be of value if you have not found your materials elsewhere and have time to browse.

Best Of The Rest

The University of Montana School of Law has a site at: www.umt.edu/lawinsider/library/lawbysub/nativeam.htm This collection of Indian law links is quite comprehensive, with links to administrative agencies having a role in Indian law, various tribal codes and rules in the region, associations, and special collections.

Always a good source of case law is Cornell University School of Law, at http://www.law.cornell.edu/topics/Indian.html. Cornell began as a school to educate Indians, and its print collection is probably the deepest in the East. Its law school has a reputation similar to Washburn's for finding materials and getting them online. Its site has a lot of good links as well.

Judicare has a site at http://www.judicare.org/ilobooks.html This is an interesting collection of books on Indian law, history and culture, with links to outlets. These are the books the law libraries ought to have if they had the budgets, starting with the American Indian Desk Book, and American Indian Law in a Nutshell, described above.

Law Guru maintains an internet law library at http:// www.lawguru.com/lawlib/31.htm

This site provides some tribe-specific materials not easily found elsewhere, but does not describe or organize its contents. It is a good tool for those with time to browse.

Research In General On American Indians

There are a number of sites that are good starting points for researching American Indian matters in general. Remember, it is not just the law that makes the case in Indian law. James Madison University (Virginia) has such a general site at http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/native.htm. A private organization site that serves indigenous organizations globally is NativeWeb, at http:// www.nativeweb.org/. The American Indian Heritage Foundation maintains a site at http://www.indians.org/index.html, but while it may include more information in the future, many of its links currentlylead to dead ends. The Fourth World Documentation Project, at http://www.cwis.org/fwdp.html provides documents about indigenous people in North America and beyond.

Remember, in Indian law, the answers are there, but sometimes hidden in more than cases and statutes. For one of my firm's issues in New Mexico, our search for evidence sent a partner to the archives of UNAM, the National Autonomous University of Mexico, in Mexico City. He found and photocopied a land grant signed by Queen Isabella, which we introduced in a reservation boundary case, about 485 years after it was drafted.

JOE LEAVENGOOD, JD MBA MA, is from the Southwest, in equal parts from Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado.