Faith in Paper: The Ethnohistory and Litigation of Upper Great Lakes Indian Treaties

by Charles E. Cleland

A comprehensive reference on the litigation of Indian treaty rights in the upper Great Lakes region

Faith in Paper examines the reinstitution of Indian treaty rights in the upper Great Lakes region during the last quarter of the twentieth century, focusing on the treaties and legal cases that together have awakened a new day in Native American sovereignty and established the place of Indian tribes in the modern political landscape. The book discusses the development of Indian treaties in historic time and their social and legal context; specific treaties regarding hunting, fishing, and gathering rights as well as reservation issues; and the impact of treaty litigation on the modern Indian and non-Indian communities of the Great Lakes region. The book is both an important contribution to the scholarship of Indian legal matters and a rich resource for Indians themselves as they strive to retain or regain rights that have eroded over the years.

408 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Charles E. Cleland is Michigan State University emeritus professor of anthropology and former curator of anthropology and ethnology. He has been an expert witness in numerous Native American land claims and fishing rights cases and written a number of other books on the subject, including Rites of Conquest: The History and Culture of Michigan’s Native Americans, Place of the Pike: A History of the Bay Mills Indian Community, and Fish in the Lakes, Wild Rice, and Game in Abundance: Testimony on Behalf of Mille Lacs Ojibwe Hunting and Fishing Rights.