A lawyer in Indian country : a memoir / Alvin J. Ziontz ; foreword by Charles Wilkinson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ziontz, Alvin J.

Contributor:

Wilkinson, Charles.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Ziontz, Alvin J.

Lawyers--United States--Biography.

Lawyers.

Indians of North America--Civil rights.

Indians of North America.

Indians of North America--Legal status, laws, etc.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (319 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Seattle : University of Washington Press, c2009.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In his memoir, Alvin Ziontz reflects on his more than thirty years representing Indian tribes, from a time when Indian law was little known through landmark battles that upheld tribal sovereignty. He discusses the growth and maturation of tribal government and the underlying tensions between Indian society and the non-Indian world. A Lawyer in Indian Country presents vignettes of reservation life and recounts some of the memorable legal cases that illustrate the challenges faced by individual Indians and tribes.As the senior attorney arguing U.S. v. Washington, Ziontz was a party to the historic 1974 Boldt decision that affirmed the Pacific Northwest tribes' treaty fishing rights, with ramifications for tribal rights nationwide. His work took him to reservations in Montana, Wyoming, and Minnesota, as well as Washington and Alaska, and he describes not only the work of a tribal attorney but also his personal entry into the life of Indian country.Ziontz continued to fight for tribal rights into the late 1990s, as the Makah tribe of Washington sought to resume its traditional whale hunts. Throughout his book, Ziontz traces his own path through this public history - one man's pursuit of a life built around the principles of integrity and justice.

Contents:

The road to Neah Bay

The road to Neah Bay begins in Chicago

The University of Chicago, the army, and Seattle

Becoming a lawyer

Seven years of lawyering in West Seattle

Creating a law firm

Indian fishing rights : joining the struggle

The Makahs

Recovering lost property : Ozette, Tatoosh, and Waadah

The Lummi Tribe

Indian fishing rights : eighty years of suppression, twenty years of confrontation

The big bang : U.S. v. Washington begins

U.S. v. Washington : the trial

U.S. v. Washington : closing arguments and Judge Boldt's decision

The U.S. Supreme Court has the last word : consequences of the Boldt decision

The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation

The Northern Cheyennes fight strip-mining

The Northern Cheyennes and the Hollowbreast case

The Oliphant case : a setback for tribal government

Writing about the Indian Civil Rights Act

Leaving law for academia

A firm of tribal attorneys

Representing fishermen of the Alaska Peninsula

The Mille Lacs Band of Chippewas

The Wanda Boswell case

The Northern Arapaho Tribe

Photographing the Northern Cheyennes

The Makah whale hunt

A life in being.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 281-283) and index.

Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.

ISBN:

9780295800202

0295800208

OCLC:

701095615