NATIVE AMERICANS AND THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

Vol. 16 No. 9 (September, 2006) pp.698-699

NATIVE AMERICANS AND THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM, by Jeffrey Ian Ross and Larry Gould (eds). Boulder, Colorado: Paradigm Publishers, 2006. 288pp. Hardback. $70.00. ISBN: 1594511799. Paper. $35.00. ISBN: 1594511802.

Reviewed by Mary Atwell, Department of Criminal Justice, Radford University. Email: matwell [at] radford.edu.

Work on Native Americans and the criminal justice system is long overdue. In that sense, this volume could fill a gap for classes that deal with race or ethnicity, presumably, its intended audience. Unfortunately, as with many edited collections, the articles are quite inconsistent in quality. Some are well researched, scholarly, and provocative. Others are more like political screeds based on little or no data or on outdated sources. The editors do not provide dates of publication for the articles. One may infer that all were prepared especially for this collection, but if so, the reliance on data from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s is even more puzzling. Individual readers might decide for themselves whether they find enough substance in the anthology to recommend it to students.

Among the excellent articles is “Criminalizing Culture: An Anthropologist Looks at Native Americans and the U.S. Legal System” in which Dorothy H. Bracey examines elements of Native American cultures that promote conformity and how those beliefs come into conflict with mainstream economic and political institutions. She analyzes a number of Supreme Court cases that illustrate these disagreements. This piece would be an ideal vehicle for introducing Native American cultural values from an anthropological perspective, while also providing a clear description of how those values translate into legal issues and how the legal arguments are resolved.

Likewise, “Law Enforcement and the American Indian: Challenges and Obstacles to Effective Law Enforcement” by Eileen Luna-Firebaugh and Samuel Walker, is scholarly, focused, clear in intent and execution, and based on recent and reliable sources. The authors are experts on policing. Their familiarity with both the issues of law enforcement in general and with the unique problems facing tribal police make the article a valuable contribution to both bodies of knowledge. Issues of tribal sovereignty, resources, and conflicting jurisdiction make the task of effective and appropriate policing in Indian Country a complicated matter. Luna-Firebaugh and Walker offer an overview that lays out general questions. They conclude that workable law enforcement in Native American communities requires planning and implementation that take into account individual tribal contexts. They also argue that community policing, widely promoted in other environments, is particularly suited to the Indian situation because of its compatibility with restorative justice and its emphasis on citizen involvement and community cohesion. This chapter focuses readers on the present state of law enforcement [*699] and on realistic approaches for future research and policy.

Another very worthwhile article is “Community-Based Strategies for Dealing with Navajo Juvenile Crime,” by Marianne Nielson, Dorothy Fulton, and Ivan Tsosie. It involves a comparison of the effectiveness of “European model” programs with Navajo cultural model programs in dealing with young offenders. Not surprisingly, the authors find the traditional approach promises to be more effective than strategies based on a more individualistic and punitive European design.

There is a single article on Alaska natives by Nella Lee. Her chapter is fascinating for several reasons, for both the similarities and differences of their experience. The Alaska natives’ loss of land and autonomy has occurred much more recently than those in the lower forty-eight states, yet their rates of poverty, infant mortality, substance abuse, and incarceration are comparable. With enactment of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) in 1971, Alaska natives lost title to most of their tribal lands as well as aboriginal hunting and fishing rights. In return, they received financial compensation. The actual results have included loss of autonomy, dependence, and the destruction of traditional culture and subsistence economies. Not surprisingly those upheavals have also included increases in crime and violence. Because native concepts of justice and social control are quite different from western ideas, and because law enforcement and court jurisdictions are muddled, native Alaskans suffer further disruptions. A 1994 report by the Alaska Natives Commission recommended a number of reforms to help achieve self-reliance, self-determination and integrity of native cultures. However, the article implies that few of the Commission’s proposals have been seriously considered.

There are several other valuable pieces in the volume, but the topic deserves a consistently higher standard of scholarship if students are to develop an appreciation for issues concerning Native Americans and criminal justice. Especially disappointing are the articles contributed by the editors. One entitled “Alcoholism, Colonialism, and Crime” promises to tackle a topic of major significance. The author quotes research he conducted with samples of twelve or fifteen respondents and generalizes based on those numbers. Similarly, another chapter by one of the editors states that his attempts to gather data were “generally ignored” by the respondents but that he had a “handful” of contacts. Perhaps based on such limited information, one ought not to try to publish.

Several other things would improve the collection: a thorough discussion of criminological theory (the introduction of this book contains less than two full pages on the subject); a solid historical chapter that lays out the development of the legal relationships between Native Americans and the dominant culture: and additional accessible anthropological articles like Bracey’s and high quality empirical work, such as the contribution by Walker and Luna-Firebaugh.

*************************************************