Restatement of the Law, Law of American Indians

The subject matter of Restatement of the Law, Law of American Indians predates the birth of our nation. Some of the most important early decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States — including ones authored by Chief Justice John Marshall — deal with the Law of American Indians.

Tribes, along with the federal government and the states, are one of the three categories of sovereigns in the United States. Yet, for its first nine decades the Institute devoted little attention to this area, which is of both great intellectual and practical importance.

This Restatement has a broad reach. It consists of six Chapters:

• Chapter 1 on Federal–Tribal Relations
• Chapter 2 on Tribal Authority
• Chapter 3 on State–Tribal Relations
• Chapter 4 on Tribal Economic Development
• Chapter 5 on Indian Country Criminal Jurisdiction
• Chapter 6 on Natural Resources

The Restatement extends the ALI’s mission to clarifying and simplifying the law of American Indians.