American Indian property rights: Congress and the Supreme Court

Demands for citizens\u27 civil rights has been a recurrent theme of contemporary society for nearly twenty years; however, it has not been until the last five that the rights of American indians have been accorded great attention. Perhaps because of the romantic characteristics attributed to them by our fixation on the grand development of the nation, the rights of the Indian have become a challenge to the integrity of the United States. The story of the development of the country is the story of acquisition of Indian lands, and this paper is a discussion of the elements and activities of teh two outstanding contributors to the history of United States-Indian relations--the Congress of the United States, and Supreme Court. The questions of primary responsibility and the content of policy will be discussed through chapters on the status of treaties, acquisition of title to lands, regulatory actions of Congree, and the Indian Claims Commission. In each chapter, significant opinions of the Supreme Court determining responsibility and policy will be considered