How Did the United States Acquire Title to Indian Lands?
Professor Bob Miller, a noted Indian law expert, spoke about his recently published book, Native America, Discovered and Conquered: Thomas Jefferson, Lewis & Clark, and Manifest Destiny at the Western Historic Trails Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa on April 15, 2007. Over 120 people heard his talk, including a group of about twenty 4-H students from the Treynor, Iowa area. He is an entertaining speaker, and managed to make his subject matter interesting and understandable for all age levels. Later, he joined the Mouth of the Platte Chapter of the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation for dinner at the Riverside Grille near Harrah’s Casino, and spoke informally with us. Bob is an enrolled member of the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, and a professor at the Lewis and Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon. The Doctrine of Discovery He explained to us about how laws relating to Native American tribes originate in the “Doctrine of Discovery.” These same legal issues also governed the a
