American Indian Law Review

The American Indian Law Review serves as a nationwide scholarly forum for analysis of developments in legal issues pertaining to Native Americans and indigenous peoples worldwide. Publishing two issues each year, AILR circulates in-depth articles by legal scholars, attorneys and other expert observers. In addition, the Review provides comments and notes written by student members and editors on a variety of Indian law-related topics.

Every spring AILR hosts one of the nation’s largest symposia on Native American law, in partnership with OU’s Native American Studies Department and the Native American Law Students Association. AILR also sponsors an annual Indian law writing competition, which is open to currently enrolled law students throughout the United States and Canada. The top three entries are awarded cash prizes and the first place entry is published in the Review.

Founded in 1973 by an enterprising group of students, AILR consistently boasts a diverse membership dedicated to the study of Native American law. Approximately fifty OU Law students participate in AILR each academic year.

Winners have been announced in the 2022-2023 American Indian Law Review National Writing Competition.  See the Writing Competition page for details.  

Vol. 46, no. 2 of the American Indian Law Review was published in October and is now available in PDF format at the Current Issues page. This special issue commemorates "two giants of Indian law," Rennard Strickland and C. Steven Hager.  Featured are brief biographies of both scholars and reprints of their works, along with tributes from their friends and colleagues: Bill Piatt, Carole Goldberg, Charles Wilkinson, Sheila Simon, Lawrence K. Hellman, Hadley Jerman, Darla W. Jackson, OU President Joseph Harroz, Jr., OU College of Law Dean Katheleen Guzman, Kace Rodwell, Michael Colbert Smith, and Stephanie Hudson. 

American Indian Law Review editors for the 2022-2023 academic year are: Editor-in-Chief: Samantha Tamura; Managing Editor: Shelby Mann; Executive Editor: Gabrielle Jones; Business Development Editor: Kianna Maxson-Udenze; Articles Development Editor: Garrett Reynolds; Assistant Managing Editors: Thomas Hamilton, Alexander Hankhouse, Grace Slaff, and Ashley Youngblood; Assistant Executive Editors: Taylor Crossley, Merit Marshall, Keiteyana Parks, Palmer Scott, Rebecca Sheetz, and AshLynn Wilkerson; Research Editors: Branden Blaylock, Justine Ellis, Jordan Medaris, and Ashley Youngblood; and Writing Competitions Editor: Palmer Scott.

Vol. 46, no. 1 of the American Indian Law Review is also available in PDF format at the Current Issues page. This issue features the article, "Belated Justice: The Failures and Promise of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act," by Troy J.H. Andrade. Also featured are two student comments: "Learning from Hobby Lobby’s Misdeeds: Crafting New International Due Diligence Standards for Human Rights and Cultural Heritage," by Taryn Chubb, and "Missing and Murdered: Finding a Solution to Address the Epidemic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women in Canada and Classifying It as a 'Canadian Genocide'", by Melanie McGruder; and two student notes, "The Mess That Has Become Indian Gaming in Oklahoma," by Lucas Meacham, and "A Case for Deference in American Indian Health Law," by Ashley Murphy.  Concluding this issue is the first-prize winning paper in the 2020-2021 AILR National Writing Competition, "Meeting the McGirt Moment: The Five Tribes, Sovereignty & Criminal Jurisdiction in Oklahoma’s New Indian Country," by Adam Goodrum.

The AILR is currently reviewing articles.  See the Submissions page for details.

The AILR archive of past issues is availiable free of charge. PDF copies of issues going back to vol. 1, no. 1 (1973) can be found through our Digital Commons page.

Samantha A. Tamura, Editor-in-Chief: stamura@ou.edu, (405) 325-2840

Michael Waters, Editorial Advisor: mwaters@ou.edu, (405) 325-5191

The American Indian Law Review is dedicated to publishing scholarly work in the field of federal Indian law and issues affecting indigenous peoples. The editorial board consists of law students, not licensed attorneys, and cannot provide legal advice. For assistance with legal issues please contact your local legal aid society.

AILR may be contacted by regular mail at: American Indian Law Review, University of Oklahoma College of Law, 300 Timberdell Road, Norman, OK 73019