Introduction to Indian Law Symposium. Indian Law and Policy: The Historian's Viewpoint

One purpose of this special section is to bring new and fresh perspectives to the field of Indian law. The editors hope to create a broader understanding of the concerns of the Indian, the non-Indian community, the states, and the federal government. I hope to give you a look from yet another viewpoint, the historian's viewpoint. To historians there is the appearance of great circularity yet underlying continuity in the course of Indian law and policy.

In this brief introduction I want to convey to you something of that historian's viewpoint in the hope that these new perspectives on Indian law may be free of the most fundamental misconception which pervades prior dealings with Indians.