Sharon O'Brien's American Indian Tribal Governments is a pretty solid summary of a very complex and multi-faceted timeline and history.

Ultimately, it provides a good overview of historic events starting with Europeans first interactions with indigenous groups, all the way to the legislation in place at the time of its publication in 1989. It offers a pretty comprehensive history of treaties, court decisions, and legislation that impacted sovereign indigenous groups' relationships with the U.S. government, as well as tribal governments themselves.

Following the history, the book delves into five case studies centering on the Seneca Nation of Indians, the Muscogee, the Cheyenne River Sioux, the Isleta Pueblo, and the Yakimas. Each group represents a different region, culture, and set of circumstances. Though in each case O'Brien demonstrates that, "All tribes...possess governing powers that are theirs not because the federal government has granted them to tribes but because, as inherent sovereigns, the tribes possess inherent powers of government" (196).

Given the ambitious scope of the book, I found the final product to be quite thorough. The only potential criticism I could point out is it was published in 1989, so notable legislation following this period, like NAGPRA, is not included. So if you are looking for recent history and current events, this might not be the source for you. If you want a good political timeline and case studies before that period, then this one's the ticket.

Overall, I recommend it.