Aboriginal title statutes in the Thirteen Colonies were one of the principal subjects of legislation by the colonial assemblies in the

Thirteen Colonies The Thirteen Colonies, also known as the Thirteen British Colonies, the Thirteen American Colonies, or later as the United Colonies, were a group of British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America. Founded in the 17th and 18th centu ...

. With the exception of

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent ...

, every colony codified a general prohibition on private purchases of Native American lands without the consent of the government. Disputes were generally resolved by special interest legislation or

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

. ''

Mohegan Indians v. Connecticut ''Mohegan Indians v. Connecticut'' (1705–1773) was the first indigenous land rights litigation in history in a common law jurisdiction. James Youngblood Henderson, professor of law, calls the case "the first major legal test of indigenous t ...

'' (1705–73), a lawsuit that proceeded for 70 years under special royal enabling acts only to be dismissed on non-substantive grounds, was the first and only judicial test of indigenous tenure.

Aboriginal title Aboriginal title is a common law doctrine that the land rights of indigenous peoples to customary tenure persist after the assumption of sovereignty under settler colonialism. The requirements of proof for the recognition of aboriginal titl ...

remained a central political and economic issue and was listed as one of the enumerated grievances in the

Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of th ...

. Regardless, colonial land law relating to indigenous peoples became the foundation for

aboriginal title in the United States The United States was the first jurisdiction to acknowledge the common law doctrine of aboriginal title (also known as "original Indian title" or "Indian right of occupancy"). Native American tribes and nations establish aboriginal title by act ...

during the

Articles of Confederation The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union was an agreement among the 13 Colonies of the United States of America that served as its first frame of government. It was approved after much debate (between July 1776 and November 1777) by ...

-era and after the ratification of the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the natio ...

. The colonial-law prohibition was codified at the federal level by the Confederation Congress Proclamation of 1783 and the

Nonintercourse Act The Nonintercourse Act (also known as the Indian Intercourse Act or the Indian Nonintercourse Act) is the collective name given to six statutes passed by the Congress in 1790, 1793, 1796, 1799, 1802, and 1834 to set Amerindian boundaries of re ...

s of 1790, 1793, 1796, 1799, 1802, and 1834. Pre-Revolutionary land transactions remained the subject of political and legal disputes well after

Independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the stat ...

. However, in sharp contrast to post-1790 transactions, no Indian tribe has yet succeeded in litigating or receiving compensation for a pre-1790 transaction. The prevailing view remains that the colonial governments, and the state governments that succeeded them during the Confederation era, had the power to authorize the alienation of indigenous lands within their borders.

British law

The British monarchy made two attempts to regulate aboriginal land transactions in British North America by

Royal Proclamation A proclamation (Lat. ''proclamare'', to make public by announcement) is an official declaration issued by a person of authority to make certain announcements known. Proclamations are currently used within the governing framework of some nations ...

: first, the Royal Proclamation of 1622; second, the

Royal Proclamation of 1763 The Royal Proclamation of 1763 was issued by King George III on 7 October 1763. It followed the Treaty of Paris (1763), which formally ended the Seven Years' War and transferred French territory in North America to Great Britain. The Procla ...

Statutes by colony

Connecticut

The

Connecticut Colony The ''Connecticut Colony'' or ''Colony of Connecticut'', originally known as the Connecticut River Colony or simply the River Colony, was an English colony in New England which later became Connecticut. It was organized on March 3, 1636 as a settl ...

(est. 1636) and the

New Haven Colony The New Haven Colony was a small English colony in North America from 1638 to 1664 primarily in parts of what is now the state of Connecticut, but also with outposts in modern-day New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. The history of ...

(est. 1637) merged in 1662.

Connecticut Colony

In 1637, the Connecticut Colony authorized a military expedition to

Pequot The Pequot () are a Native American people of Connecticut. The modern Pequot are members of the federally recognized Mashantucket Pequot Tribe, four other state-recognized groups in Connecticut including the Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation, or t ...

lands to "maynteine our right that God by Conquest hath given to us." Soon after, the colony decided to hold

sachem Sachems and sagamores are paramount chiefs among the Algonquians or other Native American tribes of northeastern North America, including the Iroquois. The two words are anglicizations of cognate terms (c. 1622) from different Eastern Al ...

's liable for the trespass of any Indian. The conquered Pequot land's were "dispose . . . with lest prejudice to others that may hereafter succeed them." The first prohibitions on transactions prohibited

lease A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user (referred to as the ''lessee'') to pay the owner (referred to as the ''lessor'') for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial ...

s, either to or from Indians. The first prohibition on taking Indian property did not arise until 1660. This was explicitly extended to land acquisitions in 1663. The prohibition was strengthened in 1680. The penalties were increased again in 1687. "

Gold Hill Gold Hill may refer to: Canada * Gold Hill, British Columbia United Kingdom * Gold Hill, Shaftesbury, Dorset, a steep street used in Hovis commercial United States ;Alabama * Gold Hill, Alabama ;California * Gold Hill, El Dorado County, Ca ...

" was the first

Indian reservation An Indian reservation is an area of land held and governed by a federally recognized Native American tribal nation whose government is accountable to the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs and not to the state government in which it ...

in the colony, established in 1659 and confirmed in 1678. Indians were also explicitly permitted to use public lands for hunting. In other instances, the colony resolved land disputes between competing Indians. Other reservations were established for the Mohegans in

New London New London may refer to: Places United States *New London, Alabama *New London, Connecticut *New London, Indiana *New London, Iowa *New London, Maryland *New London, Minnesota *New London, Missouri *New London, New Hampshire, a New England town ** ...

in 1718 and others in 1726 (which were exempted from the application of

adverse possession Adverse possession, sometimes colloquially described as "squatter's rights", is a legal principle in the Anglo-American common law under which a person who does not have legal title to a piece of property—usually land ( real property)—ma ...

), including the Pequot's before 1731. The power to purchase Indian lands was delegated to townships in 1702. In 1706, the colony offered amnesty for those who had purchased in violation of previous prohibitions as long as they provided a "true account." In 1717, the colony declared "all lands in this government are holden of the King of Great Britain as the lord of the fee," barred the introduction of private purchases as evidence, and established a committee to "settle this whole affair." Noting that the prohibition was among the most "ancient laws" of the colony, the fine was increased in 1722, and treble damages were imposed. No compensation was provided in the case of

eminent domain Eminent domain (United States, Philippines), land acquisition (India, Malaysia, Singapore), compulsory purchase/acquisition (Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, United Kingdom), resumption (Hong Kong, Uganda), resumption/compulsory acquisition (Austr ...

New Haven

Prior to merging with the Connecticut Colony, the New Haven Colony also prohibited private purchases of Indian lands unless "in the name and for the use of the whole plantation."

Delaware

Delaware appears to have passed no laws concerning Indian lands.

Georgia

In 1758, Georgia passed a prohibition of private purchases of Indian lands:

any person or persons whosoever shall attempt to purchase or contract for, or cause to be purchased or contracted for, or shall take or acept of a grant or conveyance of any lands or tracts of lands from any Indian, or body of Indians, upon any prtence whatsoever, (except for the use of the crown and that by permission for this purpose first had and obtained from his majesty, his heirs or successors, or his or their governor or commander in chief of the said province for the time being) every such purchase, grant, contract and conveyance, shall be, and is and are hereby declared to be null and void, to all intentts an purposes whatsoever . . . .

Maryland

In 1639 Maryland codified separate prohibitions on land purchases from Indians and non-English Europeans, set to expire at the end of the next session of the general assembly; the latter provided:

Neither Shall subject of the Kingobteine procure or accept of any Land within this Province from any Indian to his own or the use of any other than the Lord Proprietarie or his heirs nor shall hold or possess and land . . . and upon pain that every person offending . . . Shall forfeit and lose to the Lord Proprietarie and his heirs all Such Lands so accepted or held without Grant of the Lord Proprietarie under him.

This forfeiture provision was renewed in 1649. Indian reservations were established in 1666. Their boundaries were modified in 1698, and enlarged in 1711. Indian reservation boundaries were re-surveyed in 1721. The

Nanticoke Nanticoke may refer to: * Nanticoke people in Delaware, United States * Nanticoke language, an Algonquian language * Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape, a state-recognized tribe in New Jersey Place names Canada * Nanticoke, Ontario ** Nanticoke Generating S ...

reservation was extinguished in 1768. Unlike many colonies, Maryland provided limited legal remedies for the violation of Indian property rights. In 1704, the colony provided that non-Indians who took timber from Indian lands would be "lyable to Action or Actions of trespass And the persons grieved shall and may recover their Damages accordingly." It later authorized specific proceedings for "Indian-English" disputes; in the third such authorization, jurisdiction was extended to "punishing Trespasses committed on their Lands," claims arising from the renting of Indian lands, and "Trespasses and Wastes on such of the said Indian Lands, which have not been granted to any of the Inhabitants of this Province."

Massachusetts

The

Plymouth Colony Plymouth Colony (sometimes Plimouth) was, from 1620 to 1691, the first permanent English colony in New England and the second permanent English colony in North America, after the Jamestown Colony. It was first settled by the passengers on the ...

(est. 1620) and the

Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around the Massachusetts Bay, the northernmost of the several colonies later reorganized as th ...

(est. 1628) merged in 1691. After the combination of the two colonies, in 1701, a new prohibition was codified:

l deeds of bargain, sale, lease, release, or quitclaim, titles and conveyances whatsoever, of any lands . . . within this province . . . had, made, gotten, procured or obtained from any Indian or Indians by any person or persons whatsoever at any time ince 1633without the license or approbation of the respective general courts of the said late colonys r the current colony for purchases after 1701shall be deemed and adjuded in the law to be null, void and of none effect.Law to Prevent Illegal Land Purchases from Indians (June 26, 1701), ''in'' 17 Vaughan and Rosen, at 166 ch. 2 document 125.

The law validated all titles in

Martha's Vineyard Martha's Vineyard, often simply called the Vineyard, is an island in the Northeastern United States, located south of Cape Cod in Dukes County, Massachusetts, known for being a popular, affluent summer colony. Martha's Vineyard includes the ...

and the Island of Nantuckett and all other titles preceded by a grant from the colony. Henceforth, any violator would be subject to a fine of twice the value of the land and 6 months in prison. In 1719, the Mashpee's lands were exempted, and their sale was authorized in 1777. In 1723, the Hassanimscoe were exempted from property tax. In 1736, they were granted a 6 miles square reservation, whose borders were amended several times in 1737 and 1739. Indian lands within the township of

Edgartown Edgartown is a tourist destination on the island of Martha's Vineyard in Dukes County, Massachusetts, United States, for which it is the county seat. It was once a major whaling port, with historic houses that have been carefully preserved. To ...

on Chappaquiddick were protected for 3 years in 1774.

Plymouth

A 1643 Plymouth statute acknowledged the "constant custome from our first beginning That no person or persons have or ever did purchase Rent or hire any lands . . . of the Natives but by the Majestrates consent" and proscribed:

any person or persons do hereafter purchase or rent or hyre and lands . . . of any of the Natives in any place within this government with the consent and assent of the Court Every such person or persons shall forfait ives times the value plus five pounds for every acre

In 1652, the colony legislated an exception to this prohibition, for those who had failed to satisfy the conditions of their land grants resulting in the lands being re-granted to other non-Indians. The exception was only to last for 14 months from the end of the Court session, but was extended until June 1656. The colony later retroactively validated some purchases made in violation of this prohibition. In 1660, the prohibition was interpreted to apply to gifts of land. In 1663, the prohibition was extended to mere use. In 1668, the prohibition was extended to "mount hope or Cawsumsett necke or any other neckes or tracts of land as there is a body of Indians upon"; as amended, the lands would be forfeited to the colony if the purchaser could not afford the fine. In 1674, the colony established a one-year

statute of limitations A statute of limitations, known in civil law systems as a prescriptive period, is a law passed by a legislative body to set the maximum time after an event within which legal proceedings may be initiated. ("Time for commencing proceedings") In ...

"concerning Indian claimes that are or shalbe made to any lands within this Government; which are now orderly possessed by the English those which doe lay claime to them shall orderly comence and prosecute theire claime as farr as hee or they are able; wihtine one yeare after they be of age; and noe longer and that care be taken that the Indians have notice of it."

Massachusetts Bay

The Massachusetts Bay colony codified its first prohibition on private purchases of Indian lands in 1634: " e person whatsoever shall buy any land of any Indean without leave from the Court." The first land recording law, instructed Steven Winthrope to record, inter alia, "all the purchases of the natives." The Code of 1648 codified the prohibition such: "It is ordered by Authoritie of this Court; that no person whatsoever shall henceforth buy land of any Indian, without licence first had and obtained of the General Court: and if any shall offend heerin, such land so bought shall be forfeited to the Countrie." A 10-pounds-per-acre forfeiture was ordered in 1687. In 1652, the colony acknowledged aboriginal title, in a statute that made reference to several biblical verses:

at lande any of the Indians, within this jurissdiction, have by possession or improvement, by subdueing of the same, they have just right thereunto, according to that Gen: 1: 28, chap: 9: 1, Psa.: 115, 16. And... if any of the Indians shalbe brought to civillitie... such Indians shall have allotments... according to the custome of the English in the like case.Law to Establish Indians' Title to Lands (Oct. 19, 1652), ''in'' 17 Vaughan and Rosen, at 105–6 ch. 2 document 50.

Only if the Indians were evicted from "planting groundes or fishing places," were the Indians to "have reliefe in any of the Courts of justice amongst the English, as the English have." In 1681, the Dedham Indians were confined to the towns of Nanticke, Punkapauge. and Wamesti. In 1685, the colony confirmed 5,800 acres of land to Indians in Marlborough and voided all deeds to the contrary.

New Hampshire

New Hampshire codified a rather weak prohibition against private purchases in 1641: " oever buys the Indian Ground by way of purchase is to tender it first to the town f Exeterbefore they are to make proper use of it in particular to themselves." In 1677, the colony ordered the resettlement of the

Piscataqua Piscataqua, believed to be an Abenaki word meaning ''rapid waters'', may refer to: * Piscataqua River, a fast-moving estuarine river dividing coastal New Hampshire and Maine in the United States * Piscataqua River (Presumpscot River), a tributary ...

Indians. The colony's instructions to

Edmund Andros Sir Edmund Andros (6 December 1637 – 24 February 1714) was an English colonial administrator in British America. He was the governor of the Dominion of New England during most of its three-year existence. At other times, Andros served ...

in 1686 included instructions to purchase Indian lands. New Hampshire codified a more serious prohibition in 1687: In 1719, penalties were added, retroactive to violations from 1700: forfeiture, a fine of the value of the land, and 6 months in prison.

New Jersey

In May 1683, the colony authorized a Commissioner to buy lands from Indians and resell the lands in plots not to exceed 5000 acres each. In September 1683, the colony codified a prohibition against private purchases:

Person or Persons, shall presume to buy any Tract or Tracts of Land, of, or from the Indians within this Province, without special Order and Authority to him and them given by the Governor and Commissioners, or the major Part of them for the time being.Law to Require Permission to Buy Indian Lands (Sept. 8, 1683), ''in'' 17 Vaughan and Rosen, at 668 ch. 8 document 21.

Any purchase to the contrary would be "null and void" and subject to a fine of 5 shillings per acre. The prohibition was included in the colony's instructions to Lord Cornbury. In 1703, the prohibition was made more specific, to include "Gift of Purchase in Fee, take a Mortuage or Lease for Life or number of Years"; the authorization method was changed to "Certificate, under the hand of the Proprietors Recorder"; the fine was raised to 40 shillings per acre; and the forfeiture provision was applied to "Purchasers, their Heirs and Assigns shall forever hereafter be incapable to hold Plea for the said Land in any Court of Common Law or Equity." In 1758, the colony appropriated for the Commissions "such Sum and Sums of Money, as they may find necessary to purchase the Right and Claim of all or any of the Indian Natives of this Colony, to and for the Use of the Freeholders in this Colony, their Heirs and Assigns, for ever"; the maximum appropriation was to be 1600 pounds, no more than half of which was to go to the Delawares near Cranbury. As recounted by later, unrelated, judicial opinion:

In 1758 the State of New Jersey purchased the Indian title to lands in that State, and as a consideration for the purchase, bought a tract of land as a residence for the Indians, having previously passed an act declaring that such lands should not be subject thereafter to any tax by the State, any law or usage, or law then existing, to the contrary notwithstanding. The Indians, from the time of purchase, lived upon the land until the year 1801, when they were authorized, by an act of the Legislature, to sell the land.

New York

The Director and Council of New Netherland passed a law holding citizens liable for damages to Indian crops in 1640. In 1652, the colony legislated to ""hereby dissolve, annul and make void all claimed or occupied purchases, sales, patents and deeds signed." Previous purchases were confirmed in 1670. The General Assembly of New York codified a prohibition on private purchases of Indian lands in 1684:

nceforward noe Purchase of Lands from the Indians shall bee esteemed a good Title without Leave first had and obtained from the Governour signed by a Warrant under his hand and Seale and entered on Record in the the Secretaries office att New Yorke and Satisfaction for the Purchase acknowliged by the Indians from whome the Purchase was made which is to bee Recorded likewise with purchase soe made and prosecuted and entered on Record in the office aforesaid shall from that time be Vallid to all intents and purposes.

North Carolina

North Carolina defined its boundaries with the

Meherrin The Meherrin Nation ( autonym: Kauwets'a:ka, "People of the Water") is one of seven state-recognized nations of Native Americans in North Carolina. They reside in rural northeastern North Carolina, near the river of the same name on the Virgini ...

Indians in 1729. In 1748, the colony passed a prohibition on private purchases which applied only to

Tuscarora Tuscarora may refer to the following: First nations and Native American people and culture * Tuscarora people **'' Federal Power Commission v. Tuscarora Indian Nation'' (1960) * Tuscarora language, an Iroquoian language of the Tuscarora people * ...

lands, and imposed a fine of 10 pounds for every 100 acres:

Person, for any Consideration whatsoever, shall purchase or buy any Tract or Parcle of Land, claimed, or in Possession of any Indian or Indians, but all such Bargains and Sales shall be, and are hereby declared to be null and void, and of none Effect.

The colony authorized the leases of Tuscarora lands in 1766.

Pennsylvania

The colony passed its first prohibition on private purchases of Indian lands in 1683:

anie person shall presume to buy any Land of the Natives in the Limits of this Province or territories thereof, without Leave from the Proprietary and Governor therof, or his desputy, Such person shall Lose the said Land, and pay ine of 10 shilings per 100 acresLaw to Regulate Purchases of Land from Indians (March 10, 1683), ''in'' 17 Vaughan and Rosen, at 733 ch. 9 document 6.

The statute was abrogated by the crown in 1683, but re-enacted the same year. A similar law was passed in 1700 and supplemented in 1730 by more specific legislation (and exempted from any statute of limitations). The colony passed legislation to clear title to all land grants from the colony in 1712; the act declared such grants "free and clear, and freely and clearly acquitted and discharged, or otherwise well and sufficiently saved harmless and indemnified by the said proprietary, his heirs and assigns, of and from all Indian claims, and all other laims of non-Indians" In 1768, the colony proscribed violations of the

; the punishment was to be "death without the

benefit of clergy In English law, the benefit of clergy (Law Latin: ''privilegium clericale'') was originally a provision by which clergymen accused of a crime could claim that they were outside the jurisdiction of the secular courts and be tried instead in an ec ...

." In 1769, the punishment was set at a 500-pound fine, 1 year in prison without bail or mainprise, plus a

moiety Moiety may refer to: Chemistry * Moiety (chemistry), a part or functional group of a molecule ** Moiety conservation, conservation of a subgroup in a chemical species Anthropology * Moiety (kinship), either of two groups into which a society is ...

paid to the poor.

Rhode Island

Early Rhode Island laws restricted Indians from certain areas. Later laws were also passed in this vein. In 1651, the colony passed its prohibition on private purchases of Indian lands:

purchase shall be made of any Land of the natives for a plantation without the consent of this State, except it bee for the clearinge of the Indians from some particular planatations already sett down upon; and if any shall so purchase, they shall forfeit the Land so purchased to the Collonie . . . .

A 20-pound fine was added in 1658. The wording of the prohibition was broadened and a 100-pound fine was added in 1727. The colony repealed its prohibition on private purchases of Indian lands in 1759. Certain sachems were prohibited from selling land in 1763. A 1663 law purported to commemorate the "surrender of he Narragansetts their subjects and their lands" to the protection of the King. The colony authorized the acquisition of certain Narragansett lands in 1672. In 1696 and 1713, laws were passed to void the purchases of various Narragansett lands. Leases were permitted in 1718 and extended in 1738.

South Carolina

The colony established the Palawanee Island as a reservation for the " Cusaboe" Indians in 1712. In contrast, the colony appropriated Yamasee lands in 1716. In 1739, the colony passed its prohibition on private purchases of Indian lands:

person or persons whatever shall buy, bargain or treat for, or by any way or means whatever, procure, hold, obtain, or get any lands . . . from any Indian or Indians whatever.

Virginia

Early colonial laws removed or permitted settlers on Indian lands on an ad hoc basis. The first Indian reservations were established in 1649. A

Totopotomoi Totopotomoi (c. 1615–1656) was a Native American leader from what is now Virginia. He served as the chief of Pamunkey and as ''werowance'' of the Powhatan Paramount Chiefdom for the term lasting from about 1649-1656, when he died in the Battle ...

reservation was confirmed in 1653; a " Wiccomocco" reservation in 1659; an " Accomack" reservation in 1660; a " Chickaominy" reservation in 1661 and 1662. Prohibitions on private purchases of Indian lands were passed in 1649, 1652, and 1656. A new prohibition was passed in 1752. The right of pre-emption was delegated to Northampton County in 1654. Title clearing acts were passed in 1660 and 1676. Reservation boundaries were tightened in 1705. Various sales ad leases were authorized or retroactively confirmed in the 1720s through 1770s.Law to Allow Nottoways to Lease Their Lands (Feb. 10, 1772), in 15 Vaughan and Rosen, a 226 ch. 1 document 196; Law to Enable Nottoways to Sell Lands (March 25, 1756), ''in'' 15 Vaughan and Rosen, at 201 ch. 1 document 176; Law to Allow Nottoways to Sell Land (Dec. 17, 1748), ''in'' 15 Vaughan and Rosen, at 191 ch. 1 document 167; Law to Allow Pamunkeys to Sell Land (Dec. 17, 1748), ''in'' 15 Vaughan and Rosen, at 190, ch. 1 document 166; Law to Allow Nottoways and Nansemonds to Sell Additional Lands (Sept. 1744), ''in'' 15 Vaughan and Rosen, at 168 ch. 1 document 157; Law to Allow Nottoway Indians to Sell Lands (Aug. 2, 1734), ''in'' 15 Vaughan and Rosen, at 162 ch. 1 document 153; Law to Confirm Sale of Pamunkey Lands (June 20, 1723), ''in'' 15 Vaughan and Rosen, at 153 ch. 1 document 147.

Notes

References

;Primary *
The Indian land titles of Essex County, Massachusetts
' (Sidney Perley ed., 1912). *''Early American Indian Documents: Treaties and Laws, 1607-1789'' (Alden T. Vaughan & Deborah A. Rosen eds., 1998). Vols. 15-17. *
Indian deeds of Hampden County
' (Henry Andrew Wright ed., 1905). ;Secondary *Emerson W. Baker, "A Scratch with a Bear's Paw": Anglo-Indian Land Deeds in Early Maine, 36 Ethnohistory 235 (1989). *Stuart Banner, ''How the Indians Lost Their Land: Law and Power on the Frontier'' (2005). *E. Edwards Beardsley, The Mohegan Land Controversy, 3 New Haven Hist. Soc. Papers 205 (1882). *Howard R. Berman, The Concept of Aboriginal Rights in the Early Legal History of the United States, 27 Buff. L. Rev. 637 (1978). *Charles E. Eisinger, The Puritans' Justification for Taking the Land, 84 Essex Inst. Hist. Collections 131 (1948). *Warner F. Gookin, Indian Deeds on the Vinyard, 13 Mass. Archeological Soc. Bull. 6 (1952). *

Francis Jennings Francis "Fritz" Jennings (1918November 17, 2000) was an American historian, best known for his works on the colonial history of the United States. He taught at Cedar Crest College from 1968 to 1976, and at the Moore College of Art from 1966 to ...

, ''The Invasion of America: Indians, Colonialism, and the Cant of Conquest'' (1975). *Yasuhide Kawashima, ''Puritan Justice and the Indian: White Man's Law in Massachusetts 1630-1763'' (1986). *Yasuhide Kawashima, Jurisdiction of the Colonial Courts over the Indian in Massachusetts 1630-1763, 42 New. Eng. Q. 532 (1969). *Yasuhide Kawashima, Legal Origins of the Indian Reservation in Colonial Massachusetts, 13 Am. J. Legal Hist. 42 (1969). *Lyle Koehler, Red-White Power Relations and Justice in the Courts of Seventeenth-Century New England, 3 Am. Indian Culture & Res. J. 1 (1979). *Kenneth M. Morrison, The Bias of Colonial Law: English Paranoia and the Abenaki Arena of King Philip's War, 1675–1678, 53 New. Eng. Q. 363 (1980). *James P. Ronda, Red and White at the Bench: Indians and the Law in Plymouth Colony 1620-1691, 110 Essex Inst. Hist. Collections 200 (1974). *James Warren Springer, American Indians and the Law of Real Property in Colonial New England, 30 Am. J. Legal Hist. 25 (1986). *Charles Hervey Townshend, The Quinnipiack Indians and Their Reservation, 6 New Haven Hist. Soc. Papers 151 (1900). *Henry Andrew Wright, The Technique of Seventeenth Century Indian Land Purchases, 77 Essex Inst. Hist. Collections 185 (1941).