US Government Documents related to Indigenous Nations

Congress

57th Congress, 2d Session

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Description

This United States (US) Supreme Court case, submitted October 23, 1902 and decided December 1, 1902, held that the US Congress has the right to pass legislation that controls the actions and/or property of tribes in the United States without tribal consent. This case began when the Cherokee Nation attempted to stop the Secretary of the Interior from leasing their land for oil extraction. The Cherokee Nation asserted that an 1835 treaty granted them the right to their lands and to self-government. In their decision on this appeal, the Court asserts that the June 28, 1898 act of the US Congress and the case Stephens v. Cherokee Nation (174 U.S. 445) gave the US Congress “practically full control over the Cherokees, as well as other nations constituting the five civilized tribes.” As such, the Court held that the US Congress has the authority to control tribal property because the power of Congress is legislative and therefore not for the courts to determine. The US Supreme Court affirmed, and Justice White delivered the opinion of the court.

Publication Date

12-1-1902

Keywords

tribal lands, oil, oil leasing, treaty violation, Stephens v. Cherokee Nation, Supreme Court Decision, The Dawes Commission, Cherokee Nation, ᏣᎳᎩ, Tsalagi, Aniyvwiya, Principle People, Five Civilized Tribes, The Muscogee (Creek) Nation, Mvskoke, Seminole Nation, The Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, The Great Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, The Chickasaw Nation, Chikasha

Organizations Referenced

Cherokee Nation, ᏣᎳᎩ, Tsalagi, Aniyvwiya, Principle People, Five Civilized Tribes, The Muscogee (Creek) Nation, Mvskoke, Seminole Nation, The Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, The Great Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, The Chickasaw Nation, Chikasha, The Dawes Commission, US Congress, US Department of the Interior

People Referenced

Ethan A. Hitchcock, William M. Springer, Mr. Assistant Attorney General Van Devanter, William C. Pollock, Melville Weston Fuller, David Josiah Brewer, Henry Billings Brown, George Shiras Jr., Edward Douglass White, Rufus Wheeler Peckham, Joseph McKenna, Oliver Wendell Holmes, John Marshall Harlan

Publisher

Government Printing Office

Disciplines

American Politics | Indigenous, Indian, and Aboriginal Law | Indigenous Studies | Law and Politics | Native American Studies | United States History

Recommended Citation

Cherokee Nation v. Hitchcock, 187 U.S. 294 (1902). https://commons.und.edu/indigenous-gov-docs/171/.

Cherokee Nation v. Hitchcock

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