Property Law

"From the Sonora to the Arctic, North America's indigenous peoples have been dispossessed of nearly all their original territory, with the residue held undera a colonial "trust" authority by the U.S. and Canada. Ironically, the presumably useless fragments of geography set aside to keep Native Americans out of sight and mind have turned out to be some of the most resource-rich on the planet. Native Americans should thus be among the most affluent sectors of the population, but instead, they are the absolute poorest.

"Preserving What is Valued: Museums, Conservation, and First Nations by senior conservator at the Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Miriam Clavir, explores the highly charged topic of cultural property and the repatriation of cultural materials. As a museum conservator with a duty to preserve objects, the author recognizes the conflicting interests of museum preservation and First Nations efforts to preserve and access cultural heritage. She begins the discussion with the standard account of museums and their historical development of conservation practices.

"Canadians greeted the disruptions in Native-newcomer relations that occasionally erupted during the 1990s with incomprehension. Politicians, journalists, and ordinary citizens understood neither how nor why the crisis of the moment had arisen, much less how its deep historical roots made it resistant to solutions. J.R. Miller believes that it takes a historical understanding of public policy affecting Canadian Natives to truly comprehend the issues and their ramifications.

"When the Manitoba Act of 1870 created the new Province of Manitoba within the Dominion of Canada, it was predominantly a Métis province, yet within a matter of years, the Métis were a dispossessed, displaced, and dispersed people. Weinstein traces Métis aspirations for political autonomy as a unique nation with its own land base in the Canadian federation from the time of Louis Riel until the Kelowna Accord of 2005.

"Base closures, use of airspace for weapons testing and low-level flying, environmental awareness, and Aboriginal land claims have focused attention in recent years on the use of Native lands for military training. But is the military's interest in Aboriginal lands new? Battle Grounds analyzes a century of government-Aboriginal interaction and negotiation to explore how the Canadian military came to use Aboriginal lands for training.

"This work offers an analysis of the Western formal system of private property and its moral justification and explains the relevance of the institution to particular current issues that face aboriginal peoples and the developing world. The subjects under study include broadly: aboriginal land claims; third world development; intellectual property rights and the relatively recent TRIPs agreement (Trade related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights).

"A collaborative effort from attorney general offices faced daily with legal questions involving state and tribal relations, the American Indian Law Deskbook, Fourth Edition is an up-to-date, comprehensive treatise on Indian law. The Deskbook provides readers with the necessary historical and legal framework to understand the complexities faced by states, Indian tribes, and the federal government in Indian country.

Included are:

"Indigenous peoples around the world are seeking greater control over tangible and intangible cultural heritage. In Canada, issues concerning repatriation and trade of material culture, heritage site protection, treatment of ancestral remains, and control over intangible heritage are governed by a complex legal and policy environment.

"This book presents new material and shines fresh light on the under-explored historical and legal evidence about the use of the doctrine of discovery in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States.

"Dialogue about Land Justice comprises a selection of papers presented to the national Native Title Conference, among them, Australia’s leading thinkers, senior jurists and Indigenous leaders. Dialogue about Land Justice encapsulates the key issues that have been at the forefront of discussions about native title for a decade. The papers clearly place native title within a broader discussion of land justice and the place of Indigenous peoples in relation to the Australian political and legal framework.