National Indian Law Library

Researching federal Indian or tribal law? Consider the National Indian Law Library (NILL), a public law library located in Boulder that is part of the Native American Rights Fund (NARF). NILL’s mission is to develop and make accessible unique Indian law resources and other information relating to Native American, while emphasizing the need to fulfill the information requirements of Indian law advocates.

The website includes resources organized by topic, research guides to both Federal Indian Law and Tribal law, as well as resources organized by type (laws, court opinions, articles, encyclopedias, directories, etc.).

NILL’s collection includes many unique and helpful sources. Among them include tribal self-governance documents including tribal constitutions, codes, ordinances, charters, bylaws and intergovernmental agreements. Additionally, NILL houses legal pleadings from important Indian law cases, Indian law treatises, case law reporters, handbooks, and manuals. NILL also has documents helpful for federal legislative history relating to Indian Law including statutes, congressional hearings and reports. Finally, NILL houses a basic collection of general reference and historical/cultural books on Native Americans.

NILL’s director, David Selden, was recently awarded the Mersky Spirit of Law Librarianship Award, a prestigious award honoring legal librarians’ charitable works within their communities. The Hearsay Blog congratulates David on this honorable achievement.

Written by Kathryn Michaels, Law Librarian Fellow