Making Indian Law: The Hualapai Land Case and the Birth of Ethnohistory

by Christian W. McMillen

In 1941, after decades of struggling to hold on to the remainder of their aboriginal home, the Hualapai Indians finally took their case to the Supreme Court—and won. The Hualapai case was the culminating event in a legal and intellectual revolution that transformed Indian law and ushered in a new way of writing Indian history that provided legal grounds for native land claims. But Making Indian Law is about more than a legal decision.  It’s the story of Hualapai activists, and eventually sympathetic lawyers, who challenged both the Santa Fe Railroad and the U.S. government to a courtroom showdown over the meaning of Indian property rights—and the Indian past.
At the heart of the Hualapai campaign to save the reservation was documenting the history of Hualapai land use. Making Indian Law showcases the central role that the Hualapai and their lawyers played in formulating new understandings of native people, their property, and their past. To this day, the impact of the Hualapai decision is felt wherever and whenever indigenous land claims are litigated throughout the world.

Genres: Nonfiction, Indigenous, Native American, History, Native American History

304 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[T · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paradigm shifting. Incredibly important for understanding the complex inter-evolution of property law with regard to Indigenous peoples across the anglophone world. Also, the impact one person can have, even if they never know it. Quite well written.

[Alessandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating read about the Hualapai land claims case of the 1940s. McMillen argues it was the crucial precursor and legal trendsetter for the Indian Claims Commission cases. The Hualapai case expounded the power of history and incorporating indigenous perspectives into that history. At times, however, I wish he had further discussed the larger cultural and political climate concerning Indians at the time. I think it had a tangible impact on the case's trajectory and success.. Overall a tremendously worthwhile read.