Native American Law

U.S. Government Documents

A. ACCESS to U.S. GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS

As a result of the U.S. government's involvement in Indian affairs, these documents can be a rich source of information, for an historical perspective or for a modern viewpoint. The Law School is a selective depository for U.S. federal government documents, which means that we get a small percentage of what the government publishes. We have documents in both bound form and on microfiche. In order to retrieve a document, it is almost always necessary to have a full government document number. If you cannot find what you are looking for, please ask one of the librarians because these documents can be tricky to locate.

Subject access to government documents is available in our library through various sources:

Monthly Catalog of U.S. Government Publications is a print index which provides access by either, title, subject, or keyword to most government documents. It is located with the U.S. government documents on the second floor of the library.

FDSys provides online access to the Congressional Record, the Federal Register, the full text of bills introduced in Congress, the Congressional Record Index, the History of Bills, the U.S. Code, Public Laws of the Congress, and, through the Federal Bulletin Board, more than 6,000 other files from 25 Federal agencies.

B. EXECUTIVE & LEGISLATIVE DOCUMENTS

The major purpose of several agencies and committees is to create and carry out U.S. policy with regard to Indian affairs. These bodies can be a valuable source of information on Native American issues. Some of the most relevant are listed along with examples of the publications they issue and the abbreviated Superintendent of Documents number assigned to their documents.

Committee on Education & Labor (House). SuDoc: Y 4.ED8/1:
Committee on Government Operations (House). SuDoc: Y 4.G74/7:
Committee on Natural Resources (House). SuDoc: Y 4.IN8/14: and Y 4.R31/3:
Select Committee on Children, Youth, & Families (House). SuDoc: Y 4.C43/2:
Select Committee on Indian Affairs (Senate). SuDoc: Y 4.IN2/11:
To protect Native American cultures and to guarantee the free exercise of religion. Report 103-411. U.S. Senate. 103rd Congress, 2d session. [Y 1.1/5:103-411]
United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary. Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights. Constitutional rights of the American Indian. Hearings, 89th Congress, first session. U.S. GPO, 1965. [KF26 .J837 1965i]
Indian Health Service. SuDoc: HE 20.9402: through HE 20.9423:
Native American Administrator. SuDoc: HE 23.5002:
Alaska Native Claims Appeals Board. Decisions. (Microfiche)
Board of Indian Appeals. Decisions and Orders. (Microfiche)
Board of Land Appeals. Decisions and Orders. (Microfiche)
Indian Affairs Bureau. SuDoc: I 20.2: through I 20.67:
- For BIA's statutory authority see 25 United States Code §§1-15, 271- 304(education), §§391-416(land), §§2001-2019(education). BIA regulations are promulgated in 25 Code of Federal Regulations §§1.1-286.22.

Office of Public and Indian Housing, U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development.

United States Commission on Civil Rights. SuDoc: CR 1.1: - 1.16:

The Indian Civil Rights Act: a report of the United States Commission on Civil Rights, 1991. [CR 1.2:IN 2/8]

United States Congress. SuDoc: Y 1.1

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.

U.S. Department of the Interior.

C. CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE

The Congressional Research Service conducts intensive research at the request of Congress. Their reports are published as CRS Major Studies and Issue Briefs and contain extremely valuable information due to the high quality expertise of the CRS researchers.

D. HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS

Native Americans: a legal/historical collection. Jerry Dupont, compiler. Law Library Microform Consortium, 1990. [MICROFICHE][KF8201.A1 D86 1990]

For historical background consult this bibliographical catalog to gain access to LLMC's Native American microfiche collection of 1,668 titles. Our library has recently acquired this collection, which includes U.S. federal and state legislative, executive, and judicial documents.

Commissioners of Indian Affairs. Edited by Robert M Kvasnicka and Herman J. Viola. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, c1979. [E93 .C73 1979]

Documents of United States Indian policy. Edited by Francis Paul Prucha. 2nd edition. University of Nebraska Press, c1990. Reprints key docs in chronological order 1783 - 1988. [KF8205 .D63 1990]