Early recognized treaties with American Indian nations
The Oklahoma State University Library’s Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties Internet site was developed to provide a digital collection of the final texts of 366 of the 375 American Indian treaties recognized by the United States Department of State. The remaining nine documents are provided in this compilation, to complement the Oklahoma State resource.
You say cranberry and I say cramberry, let's call the whole thing off: A lexicon of the recognized American Indian treaties
Two lexicon corpora of 375 acknowledged American Indian treaties — one made from those transactions created with the federal government (N = 368), and another from those documents formed during the earlier British occupation (N = 7) — were generated with TokenX, a text visualization and analysis tool. Resulting frequency tables for these families of instruments are included, along with commentary on these laws of the land.
Charles J. Kappler — A life beyond Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties
Charles J. Kappler (1868–1946) is known primarily for his compilation Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties. His contributions as an employee of the federal government, his role as an attorney specializing in federal Indian law, and his influence on the development of this jurisprudence also warrant recognition. These and other aspects of his life are presented to demonstrate the wide range of his accomplishments.
The Treaty of Fort Laramie with Sioux, etc., 1851: Revisiting the document found in Kappler's Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties
The Treaty of Fort Laramie with Sioux, etc., 1851 was an important transaction formed by the federal government with a number of prominent American Indian tribes of the Great Plains. Its creation and provisions were a demonstration of the growing need for less animosity among the tribes themselves, in part to yield increased security for an ever-growing flow of settlers into the western United States who traversed in the process the tribes' historical lands. However, over the years, a true version of the final transaction — reflecting intervention by the Senate after the original signing — has never been published. A proposed correct text is presented here.
So long as grass shall grow and water run: The treaties formed by the Confederate States of America and the tribes in Indian Territory, 1861
During the
summer and fall of 1861, the Confederate States of America created a
series of treaties with the tribes in Indian Territory. These
transactions were recorded in The Statutes at Large of the Provisional
Government of the Confederate States of America as the law of the
land, just as similar federal transactions appeared in the U.S. Statutes.
The texts of those nine instruments – and their Statutes page
images – are provided here.
I forbid: Presidential vetoes and American Indian affairs, 1789-2000
Between the years 1789 and 2000, nineteen United States Presidents vetoed 114 bills or resolutions that were related to American Indian affairs. These executive actions are identified here, and supporting Congressional documents for each transaction are included. A brief history of Presidential veto power and activities is presented.
"In order to organize the Government of the Indian Territory. . .": Comparing variants of the 1870 Okmulgee Constitution
The Five Civilized and other tribes within the Indian Territory initiated a series of council meetings in 1870 to deal with new federal stipulations and treaties following the Civil War. The so-called Okmulgee Constitution was created to provide a model for a full-fledged Indian state to replace the Territory. Fourteen variants of that document and of a revised rendition were examined in this study, in terms of their variability as quantified by Levenshtein's edit distance algorithm.
American Indian treaties before the courts
These links provide access to journal publications on court cases in various jurisdictions that have cited one or more of the 375 recognized American Indian treaties. The list of uncited treaties has diminished since the first two articles were produced. This change is noted in later federal ensembles:
- Treaties that have been cited before the United States Supreme Court
- Treaties found in opinions of the lower federal courts
- Treaties in appearances before the United States Courts of Claims
- Treaties referenced in State court actions
- Treaty cases within Indian Territory, 1896–1905
- Treaty citations before twelve Territorial courts, in the years 1846 to 1909
- Supplemental article and supplementary treaty citations from opinions of the federal, state, and territorial court systems
