Crow Dog's Case is the first social history of American Indians' role in the making of American law. The book sheds new light on Native American struggles for sovereignty and justice in nineteenth century America. This "century of dishonor," a time when American Indians' lands were lost and their tribes reduced to reservations, provoked a wide variety of tribal responses. Some of the more successful responses were in the area of law, forcing the newly independent American legal order to create a unique place for Indian tribes in American law.