Rare Books Collection: Native American Law

The Law Library and Riesenfeld Center holds an excellent collection of law related to Native Americans, recording a difficult, complex, and very important legal, political, and to some extent social history. Among other material, the collection contains a wide selection of treaties from the nineteenth century. Included in these are an 1829 treaty between the United States and the Ojibwe, Menomonie, and Winnebago, and an 1863 treaty concluded with the Nez Perce, the last treaty agreed between an American Indian tribe and the federal government. There are also extensive printed communications between various tribes and the U.S. government regarding land and rights, and nineteenth- and twentieth-century laws and constitutions of diverse Native American nations. Association reports, investigations, hearings, and other descriptions of legal relations round out the material. Below are two items in particular that are special treasures for their outstanding historical significance.

 

[Laws of the Cherokee Nation: Adopted by the Council at Various Times (1839–1851)]. [Tahlequah, Cherokee Nation: Damaga Publisher, 1852].

This extremely rare collection of laws, pictured at left, was published at Tahlequah, the Cherokee Nation’s capital. The laws are printed in the Cherokee language, using a syllabary adopted by the Nation in 1825. Joseph Blackbird and Hercules Martin compiled the laws in Cherokee. The printers were John Candy and Mark Tyger. As in some family Bibles, a handwritten list of one generation of the Fodder family appears here. One family member, Sequoyah, was likely named after the founder of the Cherokee writing system. The book’s significance extends to aspects of familial, linguistic, and tribal identity.

 

Constitution of the State of Sequoyah. Muskogee, Indian Territory: Phoenix Printing Co., 1905.

In 1890, Congress created Oklahoma Territory from the western part of Indian Territory. In the same period, the federal Dawes Act (1887) and Curtis Act (1898) aimed to end communal tribal landholding and jurisdiction. In response, the Five Tribes (Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole) and others attempted to create a new American state, named Sequoyah after the founder of the Cherokee writing system, to retain control of their Oklahoma lands. A constitution was drafted in 1905, with a Bill of Rights that reflected provisions of the federal Bill of Rights. The proposal was not considered by Congress but the document provided a foundation for Oklahoma’s constitution. This sole edition of Sequoyah’s constitution includes a vivid map of its territory and counties.

 

   - Ryan Greenwood, Curator of Rare Books and Special Collections

 

Thursday, October 27: Halloween Open House!

Come out to the Riesenfeld Rare Books Center's special Halloween Open House on Thursday, Oct. 27, from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m.! 

Stop by to see spooky treasures from our collection - including witch trials, murder trials, a macabre torture manual, and other sensational works - and pick up snacks, drinks, and Halloween candy!

Come out in costume - we're happy to post pics on our Tumblr site!

When: Thursday, Oct. 27th, 12 p.m - 3 p.m.
Where: Riesenfeld Rare Books Center
What: Rare books, snacks, drinks, candy (and costumes)!


(The Center is in N30, on the subplaza past Student Orgs. in N20.)

 

 

 

Wednesday, October 12: Rare Books Open House!

Come out to the Riesenfeld Center's first monthly open house of the year on Wednesday, October 12, from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m.!

Enjoy snacks and drinks, and see treasures from the library's rare books and special collections.

When: Wednesday, October 12, 12 p.m - 3 p.m.
Where: Riesenfeld Rare Books Research Center*
What: Rare books, bagged snacks, cookies, and refreshments!

(*The Riesenfeld Center is in N30, on the subplaza past Student Orgs. in N20.)  

 

 

Thursday, Oct. 13: Book Talk by Professor John Bessler

Join the Human Rights Center and Riesenfeld Rare Books Center for a book talk with Professor John Bessler (U. Baltimore). Bessler will discuss his new book, Private Prosecution in America: Its Origins, History, and Unconstitutionality in the Twenty-First Century (2022), the first comprehensive and historical examination of a practice that dates to the colonial era. In Private Prosecution in America, Bessler shows how private prosecutors—acting on their own behalf, as next of kin, or through retained counsel—have initiated and handled prosecutions and sought the punishment of offenders, including in capital cases.

Private prosecution is still with us today. After reviewing current state laws and locales that continue to allow private prosecutions by interested parties, Bessler makes the case that such prosecutions violate defendants' constitutional rights and should be outlawed. This talk will give an overview of the arguments and stimulate discussion on an important and ongoing issue relating to the due process rights of defendants.

        

"What Process Is Due? The History and Use of Private Prosecutions in American States, and an Exploration of Constitutional Rights and the Contours of Due Process"

Thursday, October 13
4:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Mondale Hall, Ballard Spahr Conference Room (3rd floor)

Professor John Bessler has taught at the University of Baltimore School of Law since 2009, becoming a tenured faculty member in 2014. He has also taught at the University of Minnesota Law School, the George Washington University Law School, the Georgetown University Law Center, Rutgers School of Law, and the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. He has written or edited eleven books, ranging from the history of capital punishment, to an intellectual biography of Cesare Beccaria, to the craft of writing. His books have received numerous awards, including the Scribes Book Award for The Birth of American Law: An Italian Philosopher and the American Revolution (Carolina Academic Press, 2014).

1 standard CLE Credit has been requested

A reception will follow the lecture in the Ballard Spahr Conference Room

If you are unable to attend in-person, a video recording will be available following the event.

Thursday, Oct. 13: Seminar and Discussion with Professor John Bessler

Join us in the Riesenfeld Center for a lunch hour seminar and conversation with Professor John Bessler (U. Baltimore) about the tools and methods of research in legal history, with a discussion of work that he has done on the renowned 18th-century penologist and death penalty reformer, Cesare Beccaria, and other projects. Join a broader conversation following about approaching historical topics of legal research, choosing and reading sources, and bringing these to bear on important legal issues today.

 

Topics and Methods: Doing Legal History Research

Thursday, October 13
12:15 – 1:15 p.m. Riesenfeld Rare Books Research Center (N30 on the Subplaza) 

 

Professor John Bessler, a law professor and legal historian at the University of Baltimore School of Law since 2009, has also taught at the University of Minnesota Law School, the George Washington University Law School, the Georgetown University Law Center, Rutgers School of Law, and the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. He has written and edited eleven books, including extensive work on the history of capital punishment, intellectual biographies of Cesare Beccaria, and the craft of writing. His law review articles have appeared in the American Criminal Law Review, the Arkansas Law Review, the Northeastern University Law Review, and elsewhere, and his books have received numerous awards.

New Exhibits Open House: Law Books and the History of Legal Education

All are invited to an open house for two new Law Library exhibits:

 

"Tools of the Profession: Law Books and the History of Legal Education"

and

"Law Books in Legal Education at Minnesota"

When: Wednesday, September 28, from 12 p.m. - 4 p.m.

Where: Riesenfeld Rare Books Research Center (N30, Subplaza level).

 

Cookies, brownies, bagged snacks and drinks will be available.

 

"Tools of the Profession" explores the history of legal education through the literature that has profoundly shaped it. From statute books to casebooks, and from treatises to dictionaries, legal literature has developed not only to record the law and aid professionals in practice, but to guide students from the earliest stages of study. The exhibit also showcases the reciprocal nature of legal literature and legal education, through a trove of historical books illustrating transformative developments in legal education over several centuries.

  
The accompanying exhibit, “Law Books in Legal Education at Minnesota,” drawn from the Law Library’s rich archives, highlights coursebooks, lectures, exam prep material, and early exams that shed light on the history of legal education at Minnesota. Selections from our growing student notebook collection reveal how students engaged with the law through a rigorous, dynamic education.

The exhibits were curated by Ryan Greenwood, Pat Graybill, and Lily Eisenthal.

 

 

 

Tuesday, September 20: Celebrate Constitution Day!

Come out and celebrate Constitution Day in the Law Library lobby!  

 

Stop by and grab donuts and coffee on September 20, and pick up a crossword puzzle about the US Constitution for prizes. 

 

Don't forget to take a selfie with James Madison!

 

When: Tuesday, September 20, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Where: Law Library Lobby
What: Donuts, Coffee, and Prizes!