American Indians and U.S. Politics ― A Companion Reader

The relationship between American Indians and the U.S. political system is both vitally important and unique. Yet American Indians--as individuals and as tribal nations--typically receive scant attention in introductory courses on American government and politics. This is the only reader on Native America and U.S. politics designed to be incorporated into introductory government courses. It will help students to obtain a clearer understanding of such contemporary issues as Indian fishing rights and gaming casinos and to see topics central to the course--the Constitution, the structure of federalism, citizenship, and civil liberties--from the perspective of groups that have often sought a protected place outside the U.S. polity rather than inclusion within.

JOHN M. MEYER is Assistant Professor in the Department of Government and Politics at Humboldt State University, California. He is the author ofPolitical Nature: Environmentalism and the Interpretation of Western Thought (2001).