| Indian Reserved Water Rights, Volume 8: The Winters Doctrine in Its Social and Legal Context Contributor(s): Shurts, John (Author) |
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ISBN: 0806135417 ISBN-13: 9780806135410 Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press OUR PRICE: $24.70 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: March 2003 Annotation: In its 1908 decision for Winters v. United States, the Supreme Court affirmed a lower-court ruling guaranteeing the Gros Ventre and Assiniboine Indian tribes reserved water rights in the Milk River. Based on the same 1888 treaty that had created the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in Montana, the Winters decision has with some controversy influenced American Indian water rights and western water development as a whole ever since. Indian Reserved Water Rights by John Shurts is the first book-length historical study of the Winters case and its early effects. In contrast to previous explanations of the decision, Shurts demonstrates how the litigation and its outcome fit well within the existing legal context and ongoing water development in the Milk River Valley. He also analyzes the Winters doctrine during its earliest years, primarily through an examination of water-rights litigation on the Uintah Reservation in Utah, showing that it had a lively existence in those years contrary to what has been understood. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - History | Native American - Law | Government - General - Social Science | Ethnic Studies - Native American Studies |
| Dewey: 346 |
| Series: Legal History of North America |
| Physical Information: 0.73" H x 5.96" W x 9.18" (1.03 lbs) 352 pages |
| Themes: - Ethnic Orientation - Native American |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: In its 1908 decision for Winters v. United States, the Supreme Court affirmed a lower-court ruling that the United States and the Gros Ventre and Assiniboine Indians had reserved rights to water in the Milk River through an 1888 treaty which created the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in Montana. Since 1908 the Winters decision, or Indian reserved water rights doctrine, has played an important and controversial role in the West. Indian Reserved Water Rights is the first book-length historical study of the Winters case and the early use of the reserved water doctrine. In the book, John Shurts explains how the litigation and its outcome fit well within the existing legal context and into ongoing efforts at water development in the Milk River Valley. He also examines the life of the Winters Doctrine during its earliest years, primarily through a study of water-rights litigation on the Uintah Reservation in Utah. |
Contributor Bio(s): Shurts, John: - John Shurts is the General Counsel of the Northwest Power Planning Council and Adjunct Professor of Law at the Northwestern School of Law at Lewis and Clark College, Portland, Oregon. |