How to Use the Indian Law Portal

Overview

The purpose of the portal is to provide subject materials that support the curriculum of the ASU College of Law Indian Legal Program. It is hoped that the portal will also benefit the Indian legal community by providing links to comprehensive, authoritative, free materials for their use. ASU subscription materials are available for use in the library. ASU Librarians have selected the best resources for you from the thousands available.

The portal links to electronic and print resources and brings together in one place many legal and interdisciplinary resources that the University purchases for its students and faculty, including databases, indexes, full-text electronic journals, authoritative websites, and print resources. The portal also provides some unique resources created specifically for American Indian law researchers, including a chart on Arizona Tribal Law Sources, compiled legislative histories for selected important laws related to Native Americans, and an historical timeline that links to primary legal documents.

The Toolbar

The portal has 14 sections. The Toolbar at the top of the page allows you to link directly to the sections of the portal.

Reference Sources

Links and citations to selected reference materials including encyclopedias, research guides, directories, handbooks, bibliographies, and dictionaries on American Indian law and Native Americans.

Indexes

Links to article indexes at the Law Library and ASU pertaining to American Indian law and Native Americans. Most of these indexes provide links to full-text articles. Indexes are the best way to find articles on a specific subject.

Journals

This selected list provides links to authoritative journals in the field of Indian law and interdisciplinary journals on Native Americans and Indigenous Peoples. Use this list when you have a specific citation and want to go directly to the article or when you need to know the authoritative journals in these subjects.

Current Awareness

Links to the best resources for keeping current in American Indian law including websites, magazines, newsletters, and newspapers.

Primary Sources

A unique collection of links to primary sources in Indian law including federal and tribal cases, codes, regulations, treaties.

Legislative Histories

A collection of guides with links to the Public Law, U.S. Code sections, legislative history documents, and regulations related to Indian Law. 

Arizona Tribal Law Sources

Links to legal information for Indian Communities located in Arizona including tribal websites and the availability and location of tribal codes, opinions, and constitutions.

Historical Timeline with Sources

Provides a timeline for American Indian legal history with links to relevant legal documents including cases, laws, and treaties.

Websites

Links to authoritative websites in the fields of American Indian law including: federal Indian law, tribal law, Indian gaming, cultural property, economic development, environmental law, treaties, etc.

LexisNexis

Links to subject specific resources on LexisNexis in American Indian law.

Westlaw

Links to subject specific resources on Westlaw in American Indian law.

VersusLaw

Links to VersusLaw, which has tribal opinions.

Find Resources on this Portal

This section of the homepage enables you to search for resources that are listed anywhere in the portal.

Search by Subject

If you want to retrieve a list of everything on the portal (i.e. Reference sources, websites, primary sources, etc.) in the subject area of Tribal Law, you would go to “Search by Subject”, use the dropdown menu to locate the subject Tribal Law and then click on “Find It.” The result would be a list of all the materials on that subject listed on the portal. If you hold down the control key you can select more than one subject to search.

Limit to enables you to limit your results to a particular format while searching by a subject. For example, if you want to retrieve “current awareness” services for the subject Indian Gaming, you will select the subject from the dropdown menu and then click on the radio button in front of Current Awareness and then click on “Find It.” The result will be a list of Current Awareness services from the portal on Indian Gaming.

Title Search

If you want to search the portal for a publication, type your search in the box and click on “Find it.” Click on the radio button to combine your terms with “AND” or “OR.” This will search for terms that appear in the title and description of the publication.

Find Resources in the Library

This section provides links to resources in ASU libraries as well as the portal.

Find Articles

Use the dropdown menu to access articles in indexes and journals. Many of the indexes will link to the full-text of articles and are a good way to look for articles on specific subjects. Indian Law Indexes is a list that provides links to indexes on the portal that have been selected as the best indexes in these subject areas. Indian Law Journals is a list that provides links to the best journals on the portal in these fields. See also Native American Studies (American Indians) for a list of ASU research databases on this subject. All Indexes is a list of all ASU indexes in all subject areas. You might use this list if you need articles on the effects of global warming on Native Peoples. The LexisNexis and Westlaw links connect to those services and their article databases.

Find Books

Use the dropdown menu to search in the ASU online catalog for books, government documents, and other resources. If you can't find what you need at ASU, search WorldCat for books and other materials held by libraries worldwide. We have provided a list of possible search terms and subheadings for searching in the online catalog.

Updated 4/06.