In his memoir, Alvin Ziontz reflects on his more than thirty years representing Indian tribes, from a time when Indian law was little known through landmark battles that upheld tribal sovereignty. He discusses the growth and maturation of tribal government and the underlying tensions between Indian society and the non-Indian world. A Lawyer in Indian Country presents vignettes of reservation life and recounts some of the memorable legal cases that illustrate the challenges faced by individual Indians and tribes. As the senior attorney arguing U.S. v. Washington, Ziontz was a party to the historic 1974 Boldt decision that affirmed the Pacific Northwest tribes' treaty fishing rights, with ramifications for tribal rights nationwide. His work took him to reservations in Montana, Wyoming, and Minnesota, as well as Washington and Alaska, and he describes not only the work of a tribal attorney but also his personal entry into the life of Indian country. Ziontz continued to fight for tribal rights into the late 1990s, as the Makah tribe of Washington sought to resume its traditional whale hunts. Throughout his book, Ziontz traces his own path through this public history - one man's pursuit of a life built around the principles of integrity and justice.

Resource added for the Paralegal program 101101.

KEITH SOBION was nothing short of an iconic Caribbean man who had a profound affection for the region. Keith was a member of the first class of graduates from the Hugh Wooding Law School, Trinidad in 1975. Prior to that date, all law graduates from the West Indies were trained within the United Kingdom. Initially dubbed a "locally assembled" lawyer, he eventually rose to the esteemed position of Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs of Trinidad and Tobago. Keith was later appointed Principal of the Norman Manley Law School in Jamaica where he served for 12 years before his passing. At only 56 years of age, he had done so much for legal education but still had much more to offer. In these moving Memoirs, his son Justin combines facts and anecdotes with a bit of humour to capture his father's exploits. These pages reveal Keith's story during the Black Power Movement, the University of the West Indies in Barbados, the 1990 attempted coup d'état ["coup d'état" to be written in italics], politics, life in Jamaica and his critical role in promoting the Caribbean Court of Justice. Justin also addresses his struggle to accept the loss of his father and how he later comes to terms with it and his own destiny. The West Indian Lawyer ["The West Indian Lawyer" in italics] adds to the knowledge of the political history of Trinidad and Tobago in the late 80s/early 90s and engenders a greater appreciation for Caribbean legal education.