American Indian Treaties: The History of a Political Anomaly

by Francis Paul Prucha

American Indian affairs are much in the public mind todayhotly contested debates over such issues as Indian fishing rights, land claims, and reservation gambling hold our attention. While the unique legal status of American Indians rests on the historical treaty relationship between Indian tribes and the federal government, until now there has been no comprehensive history of these treaties and their role in American life.

Francis Paul Prucha, a leading authority on the history of American Indian affairs, argues that the treaties were a political anomaly from the very beginning. The term "treaty" implies a contract between sovereign independent nations, yet Indians were always in a position of inequality and dependence as negotiators, a fact that complicates their current attempts to regain their rights and tribal sovereignty.

Prucha's impeccably researched book, based on a close analysis of every treaty, makes possible a thorough understanding of a legal dilemma whose legacy is so palpably felt today.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History, Indigenous, Indian Literature

578 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1994

About the author

Francis Paul Prucha was an American Jesuit, historian, and professor emeritus of history at Marquette University. Prucha was a leading authority on American Indian policy and the author of more than a dozen books on the subject.

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kind of a bureaucrat's history of violence and displacement. If you're interested in a history of documents and process that says nothing about their consequences for peoples' lives, then this is the book for you. If, on the other hand, you're a human being, and would like to know about the United States' history of dealing with native people from that perspective, there are lots of other books out there.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I first picked up this book I was afraid from the title that it was going to be a chronological overview of every treaty made between the US government and indigenous tribes. Fortunately, I was wrong! While chronological and dense, it is a comprehensive overview of the political climate surrounding the history of treaty making with more in depth conversation on landmark cases en route. For me it really helped fill in the philosophical gaps behind certain cases and political pushes.

[Tabby · Rating 5 out of 5]

The go-to place for information and history of American Indian treaties. This is not meant to be a history of native culture or rights but a study of US-tribal relations and US Indian policies. Prucha is not an ethnographer but came to native policy history from a political viewpoint. A must-read for American, native, legal, and political historians.