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Canons of Construction in Federal Indian Law in US Jurisprudence

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Global Encyclopedia of Territorial Rights

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Synonyms

Equality; Judiciary justice; Land rights; Legal equity; Religious rights; Sacred rights; Treaty rights

Definition

The Canons of Construction have developed within United States Jurisprudence to provide a foundation for the interpretation of Federal Indian Law. This existing inequity had skewed legal outcomes in favor of those who wrote the laws.

Background and Definitions

In Jones v. Meehan (1899), Justice Gray remarked that “(t)he construction of treaties is the peculiar province of the judiciary, and, except in cases purely political, Congress has no constitutional power to settle the rights under a treaty or to affect titles already granted by the treaty itself” (at p. 32). The interpretation, not the authoring, of treaties is the function to which Justice Gray refers. The Supreme Court has developed guidelines for interpretation of treaties and federal statutes relating to Native American tribes. That body of guidelines is referred to as the canons of construction for...

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References

  • Black’s Law Dictionary (1999) Bryan A. Garner, Editor in Chief. West Group, St. Paul

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  • Cohen FS (1971) Handbook on Federal Indian law. Reprint of original 1942 edition. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque

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  • Herbil Holding Co. v. Commonwealth Land Title Insurance (1992) 183 A.D.2d 219, 227 (N.Y. App. Div. 1992)

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  • Jones v. Mehan (1899) 175 U.S. 1

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  • Minnesota v. Mille Lacs Band of Chippewa Indians (1999) 526 U.S. 172

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  • Montana v. Blackfoot Tribe (1985) 471 U.S. 759

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  • Pevar SL (2004) The rights of Indians and tribes – an authoritative ACLU guide to Indian and tribal rights. American civil liberties union. New York University Press, New York

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  • Pevar SL (2012) The rights of Indians and tribes, 4th edn. Oxford University Press, New York

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Native American and Indigenous Studies, Valdosta State University, Valdosta, GA, USA

    F. E. Knowles Jr

Authors
  1. F. E. Knowles Jr
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Correspondence to F. E. Knowles Jr .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Political Studies, Queens University, Kingston, ON, Canada

    Michael Kocsis

Section Editor information

  1. Valdosta State University, Valdosta, Georgia, USA

    Lavonna L. Lovern

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Knowles, F.E. (2020). Canons of Construction in Federal Indian Law in US Jurisprudence. In: Kocsis, M. (eds) Global Encyclopedia of Territorial Rights. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68846-6_524-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68846-6_524-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-68846-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-68846-6

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