Select Sources of Tribal Case Law
- Indian Law ReporterCall Number: KF 8203.1 .I53Publication Date: 1974 - 2013Includes Tribal, Federal, and State cases. Link to ILR via HeinOnline requires access to OU subscription resources. Link to online subject index to tribal court opinions appearing in Indian Law Reporter at the National Indian Law Library website is http://www.narf.org/nill/ilr/index.html.
- Oklahoma Tribal Court Reports byCall Number: KFO 1705 .A512Publication Date: 1994 - 2015Available in Print and via WestlawEdge
Select Tribal Court Webpages
Cherokee Nation Judicial Branch - Links from the landing page provide access to District Court forms,dockets (and pleadings), Supreme Court documents and case opinions; however, there is not an index or keyword search feature available for the opinions. Court Rules are also accessible. A searchable PDF of the Cherokee Nation Constitution and Cherokee Nation Code Annotated is available. A link to the Cherokee Law Database provides an ability to search Tribal Council and Tribal Boards and Commissions actions through the Cherokee Legislative Research Center.
Chickasaw Nation Courts - Links from the Courts Page provide access to the Tribal Constitution and searchable Tribal Code. However, Tribal Court opinions are not available. The District Court page also contains a link to the District Court Rules.
The Choctaw Nation's Government Tab provides links to Tribal Council Meetings and Bills information as well as Judicial Branch information. From the Judicial Branch webpage, resources regarding Tribal Courts (including contact information) and Tribal Forms may be accessed. Tribal Codes are also linked from the Judicial Branch webpage and are accessible in a searchable PDF format.
The Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma Tribal Courts webpage provides a link to Applications/Fees/Forms/Ordinances.Following the link will lead you to additional links to the Tribal Rules of Evidence and Rules of Civil Procedure as well as to other codes and ordinances. A careful examination also reveals form such as a Petition for Adult Guardianship, Petition for Protective Order, and Petition for Divorce. However, no Tribal Court opinions are currently available on the Tribe's website.
Muskogee Creek Nation Supreme Court - Links from the landing page provide access to the Tribal Constitution, Code, and Supreme Court Opinions issued since 2009. However, no central search function is available and documents are posted as PDF files.
The Osage Nation's "Who We Are" Tab provides access to the Osage Attorney General information, including AG opinions in a PDF format; however, a search function for the AG opinions is not available. Similarly, the tab links to Osage Judicial Branch information. The Judicial Branch page provides access to Administrative Orders and Court Rules. Links from the Judicial Branch to the Supreme Court and Trial Court are also provided. Audio recordings of some oral arguments are included on the Supreme Court page. Osage Supreme Court Opinion are also available in a PDF format; however, there is no search functionality. The Trial Court does include a link entitled "Case Information" but this is not recent case information but currently links to statistical caseload information in 2012 & 2013.
In the right navigation column of the Sac and Fox Nation's website, the Government Category links to the Sac and Fox Constitution and the Tribal Code of Laws. While there is a link for the Judicial Branch, the information provided does not include court rules, forms, opinions or dockets.
Seminole Nation of Oklahoma Tribal Courts - Provides links to tribal court forms and instructions for pro se litigants. Does not provide access to Tribal Court Opinions. The Seminole Nation of Oklahoma Landing Page (under the Government Tab) does provide link to Tribal Constitution and Code.
Web Pages
- Native American Constitutions and Law Digitization ProjectIncludes first edition of Cohen's Handbook, Solicitor Opinions, IRA constitutions, Rarick's guide to Oklahoma Indian Land Titles, and Imre Sutton's research guide on American Indian Territoriality, and more
- Tribal Court ClearinghouseCompilations and links to tribal court decisions, resources and links to tribal laws/codes and constitutions
- Tribal Govenrments USA.govProvides links to tribal governments
- National Indian Law Library Tribal Law GatewayOutstanding web page provided by the National Indian Law Library of the Native American Rights Fund. Provides access to a large number of tribal codes and constitutions. It is a public library.
- National Indian Law Library Indian Law BulletinsBulletins highlight cases and federal legislation of importance to tribes from the U.S. Supreme Court; Federal Court of Appeals; Federal Trial Courts; State Courts; U.S. Regulatory information, U.S. Congress; Law Reviews and Bar Journals. Back issues are archived for access.
- Northwest Tribal Court Appellate OpinionsFree access to hundreds of tribal court appellate opinions from thirty Indian tribes in the Pacific Northwest, Alaska, and Northern California.
- Law Library of Congress Indigenous Law PortalInteractive map of geographic regions in the United States that links out to online tribal codes, constitutions, cases, tribal websites, and more within each region.
- Indian Country News / Tribal Court ClearinghouseLinks out to numerous current awareness news sources.
Tribal Legal History
The Seminole Nation of Oklahoma: A Legal History by
Call Number: E 99 .S28 W67 2010ISBN: 9780806140896Publication Date: 2010-06-21When it adopted a new constitution in 1969, the Seminole Nation was the first of the Five Tribes in Oklahoma to formally reorganize its government. In the face of an American legal system that sought either to destroy its nationhood or to impede its self-government, the Seminole Nation tenaciously retained its internal autonomy, cultural vitality, and economic subsistence. Here, L. Susan Work draws on her experience as a tribal attorney to present the first legal history of the twentieth-century Seminole Nation. Work traces the Seminoles' story from their removal to Indian Territory from Florida in the late nineteenth century to the new challenges of the twenty-first century. She also places the history of the Seminole Nation within the context of general Indian law and policy, thereby revealing common threads in the legal struggles and achievements of the Five Tribes, including their evolving relationships with both federal and state governments. As Work amply demonstrates, the history of the Seminole Nation is one of survival and rebirth. It is a dramatic story of an Indian nation overcoming formidable obstacles to move forward into the twenty-first century as a thriving sovereign nation.
-
Megli, Austin C.. The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma: History, Influences, and Contemporary Setting of the Choctaw Legal Structure. Tribal Law Journal 18, 1 (2018), https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/tlj/vol18/iss1/1.