Indigeneity in the Courtroom: Law, Culture, And the Production of Difference in North American Courts

The central question of this book is when and how does indigeneity in its various iterations – cultural, social, political, economic, even genetic – matter in a legal sense? Indigeneity in the Courtroom focuses on the legal deployment of indigenous difference in US and Canadian courts in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Through ethnographic and historical research, Hamilton traces dimensions of indigeneity through close readings of four legal cases, each of which raises important questions about law, culture, and the production of difference. She looks at the realm of law, seeking to understand how indigeneity is legally produced and to apprehend its broader political and economic implications.

Jennifer A. Hamilton has a PhD in Anthropology from Rice University and has written numerous articles on law, race, indigeneity, and biomedicine.

Currently, Dr. Hamilton is Assistant Professor of Legal Studies and Director of the Law Program at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts.