INDIGENOUS NORTH-AMERICAN JURISPRUDENCE

This article explores differences between indigenous North American an d contemporary Western perspectives on jurisprudence. It examines the impact of state law arising from a paradigm of control and standardiza tion of behavior and contrasts it with indigenous ''law'' which reflec ted an emphasis on nature, diversity, and freedom. The research here s uggests that political organization is a central variable affecting pa rticular types of punishment and forms of law. The study raises centra l issues regarding the roles of criminal and civil law as well as diff erent forms of sanctioning. The article proposes an agenda for future research explicating indigenous civil law which can be examined in a v ariety of specific social contexts varying in scale, complexity, degre e of formalization, and historical and comparative setting.