ABSTRACT
In the United States Native peoples are most commonly called Indians, Native Americans, or American Indians. Native cultures and lifestyles were historically different from European-based North American cultures. Native societies are in the process of adapting to the cataclysmic changes that colonization by Europeans produced. The changes brought by the Europeans affected Native American demographics, technology, economic systems, ecology, culture, law, and politics. Indian Nations were affected by these agents at different times because of the differential rate of European settlement. Political power, land, economic development, individual despair—these and other issues must be considered in exploring Native involvement in the criminal justice system. Native peoples are of interest to the study of law, crime, and criminal justice for a number of important reasons. The process of colonization has led to Native peoples becoming marginalized; that is, they have been placed at the economic and political edges of society.
