The Supreme Court and the Indian nations

The Supreme Court and the Indian nations

This article was adapted from an essay that first appeared in the essay collection America Unfinished: 250 Years of Law and Governance (MIT Press, 2026).***Indian nations occupy two distinct places in American history and law. American Indians are mentioned only once in the Declaration of Independence. They are in a phrase complaining about King George III’s alliances with Indian nations to oppose American invasion of Indian country, and they ar…

War and Peace on the Frontier: British, Loyalists, Patriots, and Indians

There was no “Indian policy” toward our rebellion, or colonial policy toward the Indians. On the frontiers of white settlement, white settlers lived among, traded with, and had relations with a dozen or more nations. Each had its own characteristics, traditional hunting lands, trading patterns, history of amicable relationships and grievances with the English settlers, and foreign policy aims. And, significantly, each had its own set of allies a…