Ex parte Van Moore

Citations

• 221 F. 954
• 1915 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1633

Syllabus

<p>1. Indians <@=>32—Allotted Lands—Jurisdiction Over.</p> <p>The treaty with the Sioux Indians of April 29, 1868 (15 Stat. 635), creating the Great Sioux reservation west of the Missouri river in' the territory of Dakota, provided that no subsequent cession of any portion of the reservation by the tribe “shall be understood or construed in such manner as to deprive, without his consent, any individual member of the tribe of his rights to any tract of land selected by him.” By Act March 2, 1889, c. 405, 25 Stat. 888, this Great reservation was divided. Smaller reservations were created for the different tribes of the Sioux Nation, and the remainder, with certain limitations, was restored to the public domain and opened to settlement. One of the limitations established by section 13 was that any Indian receiving and entitled to rations and -annuities, but residing upon any portion of the Great reservation not included in any of the separate reservations thereby established, “may at his option within one year * * * have the allotment to which .he would otherwise be entitled on one of said separate reservations upon the land where such Indian may then reside, such allotment in all other respects to conform to the allotments hereinbefore provided.” Section 16 further provided that the acceptance of the act should be taken and held to be a release by those belonging to one band of all title to lands described in each of the other separate reservations, but that “this release shall not affect the title of any individual Indian to his separate allotment on land not included in any of said separate reservations provided for in this act, which title is hereby confirmed.” Held that, under such treaty and act, an allotment duly selected by an Indian on land occupied by him outside of either of the separate reservations, and for which a trust patent was issued, retaining the legal title in the United States for 25 years, did not become a part of the public domain, but remained