Menominee Tribe of Indians v. United States

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For the 2016 Supreme Court decision, see Menominee Tribe of Wisconsin v. United States .

Menominee Tribe of Indians v. United States, 391 U.S. 404 (1968), is a case in which the Supreme Court ruled that the Menominee Indian Tribe kept their historical hunting and fishing rights even after the federal government ceased to recognize the tribe. It was a landmark decision in Native American case law.

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**Menominee Tribe of Indians v. United States **

The Menominee Indian Tribe had entered into a series of treaties with the United States that did not specifically state that they had hunting and fishing rights. In 1961, Congress terminated the tribe's federal recognition , ending its right to govern itself, federal support of health care and education programs, police and fire protection, and tribal rights to land. In 1963, three members of the tribe were charged with violating Wisconsin 's hunting and fishing laws on land which had been a reservation for over 100 years. The tribe members were acquitted, but when the state appealed, the Wisconsin Supreme Court held that the Menominee tribe no longer had hunting and fishing rights because of the termination action by Congress.

The tribe sued the United States for compensation in the US Court of Claims , which ruled that tribal members still had hunting and fishing rights and that Congress had not abrogated the rights. The opposite rulings by the state and federal courts brought the issue to the Supreme Court. In 1968, the Supreme Court held that the tribe retained its hunting and fishing rights under the treaties involved and the rights were not lost after federal recognition was ended by the Menominee Indian Termination Act without a clear and unequivocal statement by Congress removing the rights.

Contents

• 1 Background

  • 1.1 Early treaties

  • 1.2 Treaty of 1854

  • 1.3 Tribal termination

  • 1.4 State enforcement actions

  • 1.5 Federal Court of Claims

• 2 Supreme Court

  • 2.1 Argument

  • 2.2 Reargument

  • 2.3 Opinion of the court

  • 2.4 Dissent

• 3 Subsequent developments

  • 3.1 Law reviews and journals

  • 3.2 Restoration of federal recognition

• 4 See also

• 5 Notes

• 6 References

• 7 External links

Background

(https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Menominee_Tribe_of_Indians_v._United_States&action=edit&section=1 "Edit section: Background")

Early treaties

(https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Menominee_Tribe_of_Indians_v._United_States&action=edit&section=2 "Edit section: Early treaties")

The Crow Wing River area, showing part of the proposed Menominee reservation (area 269)

Ancestors of the Menominee Indian Tribe may have lived in the states of Wisconsin and Michigan for the last 10,000 years.

Their traditional territory was about 10 million acres (4 million hectares). They first acknowledged that they were under the protection of the United States in the Treaty of St. Louis (1817) . In 1825 and 1827, the treaties of Prairie du Chien

and Butte des Morts

answered boundary questions. None of the early treaties addressed hunting and fishing rights. In 1831, the tribe entered into the Treaty of Washington , which ceded about 3,000,000 acres (1,200,000 ha) to the federal government. These two treaties reserved hunting and fishing rights for the tribe on the ceded land until the President of the United States ordered the land surveyed and sold to settlers. In 1836, the tribe entered into the Treaty of Cedar Point , under which 4,184,000 acres (1,693,000 ha) were ceded to the federal government. The treaty did not mention hunting or fishing rights.

Menominee Chief Oshkosh

In 1848, the tribe entered into another treaty with the United States, the Treaty of Lake Poygan , which ceded the tribe's remaining approximately 4,000,000 acres (1,600,000 ha) in exchange for 600,000 acres (240,000 ha) west of the Mississippi River in present-day Minnesota . This treaty was contingent on the tribe examining the land proposed for them and accepting it as suitable. In 1850, Chief Oshkosh led a delegation to the Crow Wing area and determined that the land was not suitable for the tribe, mainly because the proposed reservation was located between two warring tribes, the Dakota

and Ojibwe . Oshkosh then pressed for a new treaty, stating that he "preferred a home somewhere in Wisconsin, for the poorest region in Wisconsin was better than the Crow Wing."

Treaty of 1854

(https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Menominee_Tribe_of_Indians_v._United_States&action=edit&section=3 "Edit section: Treaty of 1854")

The tribe had been living in an area near the Wolf River . They entered into the Treaty of Wolf River with the United States in 1854. The United States set aside 276,480 acres (111,890 ha) of land for a reservation in present-day Menominee County , Wisconsin. In return, the tribe ceded the land in Minnesota back to the federal government. None of the previous treaties except the Treaty of Washington addressed the tribe's retained hunting and fishing rights, but stated that the reservation was "to be held as Indian lands are held".

Since the Treaty of Wolf River, this area has been the tribe's home, and they were free from state taxation, regulation and court jurisdiction. Of the original land, 230,000 acres (93,000 ha) of prime timberland remained under the tribe's c

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