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DECOTEAU V. DISTRICT COURT, 420 U. S. 425 (1975)
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U.S. Supreme Court
DeCoteau v. District Court, 420 U.S. 425 (1975)
DeCoteau v. District Court
No. 73-1148
Argued December 16, 1974
Decided March 3, 1975*
420 U.S. 425
CERTIORARI TO THE SUPREME COURT OF SOUTH DAKOTA
Syllabus
The Lake Traverse Indian Reservation in South Dakota, created by an 1867 treaty, held terminated and returned to the public domain by an 1891 Act which, in ratification of a previously negotiated 1889 Agreement between the affected Indian tribe and the United States, not only opened all unallotted lands to settlement, but also appropriated and vested in the tribe a sum certain per acre in payment for the express cession and relinquishment of "all" of the tribe's "claim, right, title, and interest" in the unallotted lands; and therefore the South Dakota state courts have civil and criminal jurisdiction over conduct of members of the tribe on the non-Indian, unallotted lands within the 1867 reservation borders. The face of the Act and its surrounding circumstances and legislative history all point unmistakably to this conclusion. Mattz v. Arnett, 412 U. S. 481, and Seymour v. Superintendent, 368 U. S. 351, distinguished. Pp. 420 U. S. 431-449.
No. 73-1148, 87 S.D. 555, 211 N.W.2d 843, affirmed; No. 73-1500, 489 F.2d 99, reversed.
STEWART, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which BURGER, C.J., and WHITE, BLACKMUN, POWELL, and REHNQUIST, JJ., joined. DOUGLAS, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which BRENNAN and MARSHALL, JJ., joined, post, p. 420 U. S. 460.
Page 420 U. S. 426
MR. JUSTICE STEWART delivered the opinion of the Court.
These two cases, consolidated for decision, raise the single question whether the Lake Traverse Indian Reservation in South Dakota, created by an 1867 treaty between the United States and the Sisseton and Wahpeton bands of Sioux Indians, was terminated and returned to
Page 420 U. S. 427
the public domain, by the Act of March 3, 1891, c. 543, 26 Stat. 1035. In each of the two cases, the South Dakota courts asserted jurisdiction over members of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Tribe for acts done on lands which, though within the 1867 reservation borders, have been owned and settled by non-Indians since the 1891 Act. The parties agree that the state courts did not have jurisdiction if these lands are "Indian country," as defined in 18 U.S.C. § 1151, [Footnote 1] and that this question depends upon whether the lands retained reservation status after 1891. [Footnote 2] We hold, for the reasons that follow, that the
Page 420 U. S. 428
1891 Act terminated the Lake Traverse Reservation, and that consequently the state courts have jurisdiction over conduct on non-Indian lands within the 1867 reservation borders.
I
The 1867 boundaries of the Lake Traverse Reservation enclose approximately 918,000 acres of land. Within the 1867 boundaries, there reside about 3,000 tribal members and 30,000 non-Indians. About 15% of the land is in the form of "Indian trust allotments"; these are individual land tracts retained by members of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Tribe when the rest of the reservation lands were sold to the United States in 1891. The trust allotments are scattered in a random pattern throughout the 1867 reservation area. The remainder of the reservation land was purchased from the United States by non-Indian settlers after 1891, and is presently inhabited by non-Indians.
It is common ground here that Indian conduct occurring on the trust allotments is beyond the State's jurisdiction, being instead the proper concern of tribal or federal authorities. In the two cases before us, however, the State asserted jurisdiction over Indians based on conduct occurring on non-Indian, unallotted land within the 1867 reservation borders.
The petitioner in No. 73-1148, Cheryl Spider DeCoteau, is the natural mother of Herbert John Spider and Robert Lee Feather; all are enrolled members of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Tribe. Both children have been assigned to foster homes by order of the respondent District County Court for the Tenth Judicial District of South Dakota. The petitioner gave Robert up for adoption in March of 1971, and Herbert was later separated from her through neglect and dependency proceedings in the respondent court, initiated by the State Welfare Department.
Page 420 U. S. 429
On August 31, 1972, the petitioner commenced a habeas corpus action in a State Circuit Court alleging that the respondent had lacked jurisdiction to order her children separated from her, and asking that they be released from the custodial process of the respondent. After a hearing, the state court denied the writ, finding that the respondent had possessed jurisdiction because
"the non-Indian patented land, upon which a portion of the acts or omissions giving rise to the Order of the District County Court occurred is not within Indian Country. [Footnote 3]"
While acknowledging that this non-Indian patented land is within the 1867 boundaries of the Lake Traverse Reservation, the court noted that the tribe
"had sold or relinquished [the non-Indian land in question] to the United States under the terms of the agreement which was ratified by acts of Congress, March 3, 1891."
The South Dakota Supreme Court affirmed [Footnote 4] upon the ground that the 1891 Act ratified an 1889 Agreement by which
"the Sisseton and Wahpeton Bands of Indians sold their unallotted lands, and the United States Government paid a sum certain for each and every acre
Page 420 U. S. 430
purchased. . . . This, then, was an outright cession and sale of lands by the Indians to the United States. The land sold was separated from the reservation by Congress, and became part of the public domain. [Footnote 5]"
The relators in No. 73-1500 are enrolled members of the tribe who were convicted in South Dakota courts of various violations of the State's penal laws committed on non-Indian lands within the 1867 reservation boundaries. The relators, in the custody of a state penitentiary, separately petitioned for writs of habeas corpus in the United States District Court for the District of South Dakota, alleging that the state courts had lacked criminal jurisdiction over their conduct within the 1867 reservation boundaries. The District Court summarily denied the petitions, but the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reversed. [Footnote 6] In DeMarrias v. South Dakota, 319 F.2d 845, that court had previously held that the 1891 Act had terminated the Lake Traverse Reservation, leaving only allotted Indian lands within tribal or federal jurisdiction. But in the present case, the Court of Appeals overruled its DeMarrias decision, finding it inconsistent with the principles of statutory construction established by this Court in Mattz v. Arnett, 412 U. S. 481, and Seymour v. Superintendent, 368 U. S. 351. The Court of Appeals accordingly held that
"[t]he boundaries of the Lake Traverse Indian reservation remain as they were established in 1867. The scene of the alleged crimes is, therefore, within Indian country. South Dakota had no jurisdiction to try appellants."
489 F.2d 99, 103.
We granted certiorari in the two cases, 417 U.S. 929, to resolve the conflict between the Supreme Court of South Dakota and the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
Page 420 U. S. 431
as to the effect of the 1891 Act on South Dakota's civil and criminal jurisdiction over unallotted lands within the 1867 reservation boundaries.
II
When the Sioux Nation rebelled against the United States in 1862, the Sisseton and Wahpeton bands of the Nation remained loyal to the Federal Government, many members serving as "scouts" for federal troops. This loyalty went unrecognized, however, when the Government confiscated the Sioux lands after the rebellion. In a belated act of gratitude, the United States entered into a treaty with the Sisseton-Wahpeton Tribe in 1867. The treaty granted the tribe a permanent reservation in the Lake Traverse area, and provided for tribal self-government under the supervision of federal agents. [Footnote 7]
But familiar forces soon began to work upon the Lake Traverse Reservation. A nearby and growing population of white farmers, merchants, and railroad men began urging authorities in Washington to open the reservation to general settlement. The Indians, suffering from disease and bad harvests, developed an increasing need for cash and direct assistance. [Footnote 8] Meanwhile, the Government
Page 420 U. S. 432
had altered its general policy toward the Indian tribes. After 1871, the tribes were no longer regarded as sovereign nations, and the Government began to regulate their affairs through statute or through contractual agreements ratified by statute. [Footnote 9] In 1887, the General Allotment Act (or Dawes Act) was enacted in an attempt to reconcile the Government's responsibility for the Indians' welfare with the desire of non-Indians to settle upon reservation lands. [Footnote 10] The Act empowered the President to allot portions of reservation land to tribal members and, with tribal consent, to sell the surplus lands to white settlers, with the proceeds of these sales being dedicated to the Indians' benefit. See Mattz v. Arnett, 412 U.S. at 412 U. S. 496-497.
Against this background, a series of negotiations took place in 1889 with the objective of opening the Lake
Page 420 U. S. 433
Traverse Reservation to settlement. In April of that year, a South Dakota banker, D. W. Diggs, sent to the Secretary of the Interior a request on behalf of the local white community that reservation lands be made available for commerce, farming, and railroad development. [Footnote 11] In May, Diggs met with a council of tribal leaders, who told him that the tribe would consider selling the reserved lands if the Government would first pay a "loyal scout claim" which the tribe believed was owing as part of the 1867 Treaty. Spokesmen for the tribe were quoted in the local press that month as follows:
"We never thought to keep this reservation for our lifetime."
"* * * *"
". . . Now that South Dakota has come in as a state, we have some one to go to to right our wrongs. The Indians have taken their land in severalty. They are waiting for patents. The Indians are anxious to get patents. We are willing the surplus land should be sold. We don't expect to keep reservation. We want to get the benefit of the sale. If the government will pay what they owe, we will be pleased with the opening. There will be left over allotments 880,000 acres. If the government pays what they owe, and pay what they agree per acre, we will be pleased with the opening. When the government asks me to do anything, I am always willing to do it. I hope you will try to get the government to do what is right."
"If the government will do this, it will benefit both the Indians and the whites [and illustrates by holding up half a dozen keys [in a] perpendicular position, separately], we all stand this way [and
Page 420 U. S. 434
then, pressing them against each other], we will be as one key. When the reservation is open, we meet as one body. We be as one."
"* * * *"
". . . If we get the money, we will open up. Your committee needn't be discouraged, we will open up."
". . . We are anxious to become citizens and vote. We have laid before you all we have to say from our hearts. [Footnote 12]"
By summer, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs had apparently been won over, for in August, 1889, he sent to the Secretary of the Interior a set of draft instructions for the guidance of a Commission to negotiate with the Sisseton and Wahpeton Indians for the sale of their surplus lands. [Footnote 13] The instructions noted that the negotiations would be pursuant to § 5 of the General Allotment Act, that the allotment of individual tracts of reservation land to tribal members was already "virtually . . . completed," and that "the Indians desire to sell a portion at least of their surplus [i.e., unallotted] lands."
While these proposed instructions suggested that sale of all the surplus lands might be "inadvisable," the negotiations, in fact, proceeded toward such a total sale. The three Government representatives [Footnote 14] were appointed in November, and two weeks of meetings at the reservation promptly ensued. The proceedings at these meetings
Page 420 U. S. 435
were transcribed, [Footnote 15] and the records show that the Indians wished to sell outright all of their unallotted lands, on three conditions: that each tribal member, regardless of age or sex, receive an allotment of 160 acres; that Congress appropriate moneys to make good on the tribe's outstanding "loyal scout claim"; and that an adequate sales price per acre be arrived at for all of the unallotted land. [Footnote 16]
Page 420 U. S. 436
In December, an Agreement was reached, and the contract was signed by the required majority of male adult tribal members. Its terms [Footnote 17] were accurately summarized
Page 420 U. S. 437
by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs in his report to the Secretary of the Interior: [Footnote 18]
"By article 1, the Indians cede, sell, relinquish, and convey to the United States all the unallotted land within the reservation remaining after the allotments and additional allotments provided for in article 4 shall have been made."
"Article 2 provides that the United States will pay to the Indians $2.50 per acre for the lands ceded."
"Article 3 provides for the payment of back annuities, and continues the annuities of $18,400 until July 1, 1901."
"Article 4 provides for the equalization of allotments so that each person, including married women, shall have 160 acres."
President Harrison immediately submitted the Agreement to Congress for legislative approval. While the
Page 420 U. S. 438
subsequent legislative history is largely irrelevant to the issues before us, three aspects bear notice. First, the several committee reports which commented on the Agreement recognized that it effected a simple and unqualified cession of all of the unallotted lands to the United States for a sum certain. [Footnote 19] Second, the Congress recognized that the Agreement could not be altered, and therefore debate centered largely on the disposition to be made by the United States of the lands it had acquired under the Agreement; it was decided that these lands
Page 420 U. S. 439
should be sold to settlers at $2.50 per acre under the homestead laws [Footnote 20] Third, the Congress included the Sisseton-Wahpeton Agreement in a comprehensive Act which also ratified several other agreements providing for the outright cession of surplus reservation lands to the Government. [Footnote 21] The other agreements employed cession language virtually identical to that in the Sisseton-Wahpeton Agreement, but in these other cases, the Indians sold only a described portion of their lands, rather than all "unallotted" portions, the result being merely a reduction in the size of the affected reservations. [Footnote 22] The intended effect of all of these ratification
Page 420 U. S. 440
agreements was made clear by the sponsors of the comprehensive legislation:
"All the pending agreements or treaties for the purchase of Indian lands are ratified and confirmed by the provisions of this bill. . . ."
"The bill carries the largest appropriation ever carried by an Indian appropriation bill, but it extinguishes the Indian title to a great domain and opens it to settlement by the hardy and progressive pioneers. . . . [Footnote 23]"
"We do not pretend to make any modification or amendment of the agreements themselves. We merely ratify those, and then we take the estate we have acquired in this way, and after providing for the payment of the money, or whatever it is we have agreed to pay these Indians, we take these landed estates and parcel and divide them out among
Page 420 U. S. 441
the people in a fashion that we think is the most conducive to the occupancy of that country by an honest, laborious, earnest, and faithful set of people. [Footnote 24]"
"The remainder of the bill is made up of the other appropriations necessary to carry out the agreements that were made with Indians for the surrender of a large portion of their reservations to the public domain. In the main, it has cost the United States between $1.25 and $1.50 an acre for some ten or eleven million acres of land. All this land is opened by this bill to settlement as part of the public domain upon the payment by the settler of $1.50 an acre, for all except that which was obtained from the Sisseton and Wahpeton reservation, which is open to settlement at $2.50 an acre, because the United States gave the Indians for the surrender $2.50 an acre. [Footnote 25]"
As passed by the Congress, the 1891 Act recited and ratified the 1889 Agreement with the tribe and appropriated $2,203,000 to pay the tribe for the ceded land and to make good the tribe's "loyal scout" claim. § 27, 26 Stat. 1038. A portion of the moneys was made available for immediate distribution to tribal members, on a per capita basis, and the remaining funds were, as had been agreed,
"placed in the Treasury of the United States, to the credit of said . . . Indians [at five percent interest] . . . for the education and civilization of said bands of Indians or members thereof."
§ 27, 26 Stat. 1039. The Act further provided that the 160-acre allotments were to be effected "as soon as practicable," pursuant to the terms of the General Allotment Act. § 29, 26 Stat. 1039. Finally, the Act provided that upon payment of
Page 420 U. S. 442
the per capita purchase moneys to the tribe, and the completion of the enlarged allotment process, "the lands by said agreement ceded, sold, relinquished, and conveyed to the United States" shall be opened
"only to entry and settlement [at $2.50 per acre] under the homestead and townsite laws of the United States, excepting the sixteenth and thirty-sixth sections of said lands, which shall be reserved for common school purposes, and be subject to the laws of the State wherein located,"
§ 30, 26 Stat. 1039.
On April 11, 1892, President Harrison declared open for settlement all "lands embraced in said reservation, saving and excepting the lands reserved for and allotted to said Indians." [Footnote 26] The ceded lands were rapidly purchased and settled by non-Indians.
The jurisdictional history subsequent to the 1891 Act is not wholly clear, but it appears that state jurisdiction over the ceded (i.e., unallotted) lands went virtually unquestioned until the 1960's. The Lake Traverse Reservation was eliminated from the maps published by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs until 1908; thereafter, some Government maps included the area as an "open" or "former" reservation, while more recent ones have characterized it simply as a "reservation." [Footnote 27] Federal Indian agents have remained active in the area, and Congress
Page 420 U. S. 443
has regularly appropriated funds for the tribe's welfare; [Footnote 28] the allotted Indian tracts have retained their "trust" status pursuant to periodic Executive Orders. [Footnote 29] A tribal constitution did not appear until 1946, and tribal jurisdiction under it extended only to "Indian-owned lands lying in the territory within the original confines of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Lake Traverse Sioux Reservation." [Footnote 30] In 1963, the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit held that the 1891 Act had terminated the reservation; in the process, the court noted that "the highest court of that state [South Dakota] has repeatedly held that South Dakota has jurisdiction," and that the Justice Department had taken a like position. DeMarrias v. South Dakota, 319 F.2d 846.
But the Commissioner of Indian Affairs approved a new tribal constitution in 1966, which stated:
"The jurisdiction of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe shall extend to lands lying in the territory within the original confines of the Lake Traverse Reservation as described in Article III of the Treaty of February 19, 1867. [Footnote 31]"
Apparently, however, no tribal court or legal code was established to exercise this jurisdiction. In 1972, a field
Page 420 U. S. 444
solicitor for the Department of the Interior rendered an opinion that the 1891 Act had not extinguished tribal jurisdiction over the 1867 reservation lands. [Footnote 32] In 1973, the Court of Appeals overruled DeMarrias, in the decision here under review, and in early 1974, after several months of preparation, the tribe formally established a law court and a legal code to exercise civil and criminal jurisdiction throughout the 1867 reservation lands.
III
This Court does not lightly conclude that an Indian reservation has been terminated.
"[W]hen Congress has once established a reservation all tracts included within it remain a part of the reservation until separated therefrom by Congress."
United States v. Celestine, 215 U. S. 278, 215 U. S. 285. The congressional intent must be clear, to overcome
"the general rule that '[d]oubtful expressions are to be resolved in favor of the weak and defenseless people who are the wards of the nation, dependent upon its protection and good faith.'"
McClanahan v. Arizona State Tax Comm'n, 411 U. S. 164, 411 U. S. 174, quoting Carpenter v. Shaw, 280 U. S. 363, 280 U. S. 367. Accordingly, the Court requires that the
"congressional determination to terminate . . . be expressed on the face of the Act or be clear from the surrounding circumstances and legislative history."
Mattz v. Arnett, 412 U.S. at 412 U. S. 505. See also Seymour v. Superintendent, 368 U. S. 351, and United States v. Nice, 241 U. S. 591. In particular, we have stressed that reservation status may survive the mere opening of a reservation to settlement, even when the moneys paid for the land by the settlers are placed in trust by the Government for the Indians' benefit. Mattz v. Arnett, supra, and Seymour v. Superintendent, supra.
Page 420 U. S. 445
But in this case, "the face of the Act," and its "surrounding circumstances" and "legislative history" all point unmistakably to the conclusion that the Lake Traverse Reservation was terminated in 1891. The negotiations leading to the 1889 Agreement show plainly that the Indians were willing to convey to the Government, for a sum certain, all of their interest in all of their unallotted lands. See supra at 420 U. S. 432-437. The Agreement's language, adopted by majority vote of the tribe, was precisely suited to this purpose:
"The Sisseton and Wahpeton bands of Dakota or Sioux Indians hereby cede, sell, relinquish, and convey to the United States all their claim, right, title, and interest in and to all the unallotted lands within the limits of the reservation set apart to said bands of Indians as aforesaid remaining after the allotments and additional allotments provided for in article four of this agreement shall have been made. [Footnote 33] "
Page 420 U. S. 446
This language is virtually indistinguishable from that used in the other sum-certain cession agreements ratified by Congress in the same 1891 Act. See nn. 21 and | 21 and S. 425fn22|>22, supra. That the lands ceded in the other agreements were returned to the public domain, stripped of reservation status, can hardly be questioned, and every party here acknowledges as much. The sponsors of the legislation stated repeatedly that the ratified agreements would return the ceded lands to the "public domain." See supra at 21 and S. 440|>440-441. Cf. Mattz v. Arnett, 412 U.S. at 412 U. S. 504 n. 22.
It is true that the Sisseton-Wahpeton Agreement was unique in providing for cession of all, rather than simply a major portion of, the affected tribe's unallotted lands. But, as the historical circumstances make clear, this was not because the tribe wished to retain its former reservation, undiminished, but rather because the tribe and the Government were satisfied that retention of allotments would provide an adequate fulcrum for tribal affairs. In such a situation, exclusive tribal and federal jurisdiction is limited to the retained allotments. 18
Page 420 U. S. 447
U.S.C. 1151(c). See United States v. Pelican, 232 U. S. 442. With the benefit of hindsight, it may be argued that the tribe and the Government would have been better advised to have carved out a diminished reservation, instead of or in addition to the retained allotments. But we cannot rewrite the 1889 Agreement and the 1891 statute. For the courts to reinstate the entire reservation, on the theory that retention of mere allotments was ill-advised, would carry us well beyond the rule by which legal ambiguities are resolved to the benefit of the Indians. We give this rule the broadest possible scope, but it remains at base a canon for construing the complex treaties, statutes, and contracts which define the status of Indian tribes. A canon of construction is not a license to disregard clear expressions of tribal and congressional intent.
The Court of Appeals thought that a finding of termination here would be inconsistent with Mattz and Seymour. This is not so. We adhere without qualification to both the holdings and the reasoning of those decisions. But the gross differences between the facts of those cases and the facts here cannot be ignored.
In Mattz, the Court held that an 1892 Act of Congress [Footnote 34] did not terminate the Klamath River Indian Reservation in northern California. That Act declared the reservation lands "subject to settlement, entry, and purchase" under the homestead laws of the United States, empowered the Secretary of the Interior to allot tracts to tribal members, and provided that any proceeds of land sales to settlers should be placed in a fund for the tribe's benefit. The 1892 statute could be considered a termination provision only if continued reservation status were inconsistent with the mere opening of lands to settlement, and such is not the case. See 18 U.S.C. § 1151(a).
Page 420 U. S. 448
But the 1891 Act before us is a very different instrument. It is not a unilateral action by Congress, but the ratification of a previously negotiated agreement, to which a tribal majority consented. The 1891 Act does not merely open lands to settlement; it also appropriates and vests in the tribe a sum certain -- $2.50 per acre -- in payment for the express cession and relinquishment of "all" of the tribe's "claim, right, title and interest" in the unallotted lands. The statute in Mattz, by contrast, benefited the tribe only indirectly, by establishing a fund dependent on uncertain future sales of its land to settlers. See also Ash Sheep Co. v. United States, 252 U. S. 159, 252 U. S. 164-166. Furthermore, the circumstances surrounding congressional action in Mattz militated persuasively against a finding of termination. That action represented a clear retreat from previous congressional attempts to vacate the Klamath River Reservation in express terms; and the Department of the Interior had consistently regarded the Klamath River Reservation as a continuing one, despite the 1892 legislation. Mattz v. Arnett, supra, at 412 U. S. 503-505. In the present case, by contrast, the surrounding circumstances are fully consistent with an intent to terminate the reservation, and inconsistent with any other purpose. In Seymour, the Court held that a 1906 Act of Congress [Footnote 35] did not terminate the southern portion of the Colville Indian Reservation in Washington. Like that in question in Mattz, this Act was unilateral in character; like that in question in Mattz, it merely opened reservation land to settlement and provided that the uncertain future proceeds of settler purchases should be applied to the Indians' benefit. The Seymour Court was not confronted with a straightforward agreement ceding lands to the Government for a sum certain. In Seymour, the Court sharply contrasted the 1906 Act, which provided
Page 420 U. S. 449
only for non-Indian settlement, with an 1892 Act which plainly "vacated'" and restored "`to the public domain'" the northern portion of the Colville Reservation. Seymour v. Superintendent, 368 U.S. at 368 U. S. 355. The 1891 Act before us here is analogous to that 1892 statute. Thus, in finding a termination of the Lake Traverse Reservation, we are not departing from, but following and reaffirming, the guiding principles of Mattz and Seymour. Until the Court of Appeals altered the status quo, South Dakota had exercised jurisdiction over the unallotted lands of the former reservation for some 80 years. Counsel for the tribal members stated at oral argument that many of the Indians have resented state authority, and suffered under it. Counsel for the State denied this, and argued that an end to state jurisdiction would be calamitous for all the residents of the area, Indian and non-Indian alike. These competing pleas are not for us to adjudge, for our task here is a narrow one. In the 1889 Agreement and the 1891 Act ratifying it, Congress and the tribe spoke clearly. Some might wish they had spoken differently, but we cannot remake history. The judgment in No. 73-1148 is affirmed, and that in No. 73-1500 is reversed.
It is so ordered.
|420 U.S. 425appa|
APPENDIX A TO OPINION OF THE COURT
TREATY OF FEB.19, 1867, 15 STAT. 505,
AS AMENDED, 15 STAT. 509
Whereas it is understood that a portion of the Sissiton and Warpeton bands of Santee Sioux Indians, numbering from twelve hundred to fifteen hundred persons, not only preserved their obligations to the government of the United States, during and since the outbreak of the Medewakantons and other bands of Sioux in 1862, but
Page 420 U. S. 450
freely perilled their lives during that outbreak to rescue the residents on the Sioux reservation, and to obtain possession of white women and children made Captives by the hostile bands; and that another portion of said Sissiton and Warpeton bands, numbering from one thousand to twelve hundred persons, who did not participate in the massacre of the whites in 1862, fearing the indiscriminate vengeance of the whites, fled to the great prairies of the northwest, where they still remain; and
Whereas Congress, in confiscating the Sioux annuities and reservations, made no provision for the support of these, the friendly portion of the Sissiton and Warpeton bands, and it is believed [that] they have been suffered to remain homeless wanderers, frequently subject to intense suffering from want of subsistence and clothing to protect them from the rigors of a high northern latitude, although at all times prompt in rendering service when called upon to repel hostile raids and to punish depredations committed by hostile Indians upon the persons and property of the whites; and
Whereas the several subdivisions of the friendly Sissitons and Warpeton bands ask, through their representatives, that their adherence to their former obligations of friendship to the government and people of the United States be recognized, and that provision be made to enable them to return to an agricultural life and be relieved from a dependence upon the chase for a precarious subsistence: therefore,
A treaty has been made and entered into, at Washington city, District of Columbia, this nineteenth day of February, A. D. 1867, by and between Lewis v. Bogy, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and William H. Watson, commissioners, on the part of the United States, and the undersigned chiefs and headmen of the Sissiton and
Page 420 U. S. 451
Warpeton bands of Dakota or Sioux Indians, as follows, to-wit:
ARTICLE I. The Sissiton and Warpeton bands of Dakota Sioux Indians, represented in council, will continue their friendly relations with the government and people of the United States, and bind themselves individually and collectively to use their influence to the extent of their ability to prevent other bands of Dakota or other adjacent tribes from making hostile demonstrations against the government or people of the United States.
ARTICLE II. The said bands hereby cede to the United States the right to construct wagon roads, railroads, mail stations, telegraph lines, and such other public improvements as the interest of the government may require over and across the lands claimed by said bands (including their reservation as hereinafter designated) over any route or routes that that may be selected by authority of the government, said lands so claimed being bounded on the south and east by the treaty line of 1851 and the Red river of the North to the mouth of Goose river, on the north by the Goose river and a line running from the source thereof by the most westerly point of Devil's lake to the Chief's Bluff at the head of James river, and on the west by the James river to the mouth of Mocasin river, and thence to Kampeska lake.
ARTICLE III. For and in consideration of the cession above mentioned, and in consideration of the faithful and important services said to have been rendered by the friendly bands of Sissitons and Warpetons Sioux here represented, and also in consideration of the confiscation of all their annuities reservations, and improvements, it is agreed that there shall be set apart for the members of said bands who have heretofore surrendered to the authorities of the government, and were not sent to the Crow Creek reservation, and for the members of said
Page 420 U. S. 452
bands who were released from prison in 1866, the following described lands as a permanent reservation, viz.:
Beginning at the head of Lake Travers[e], and thence along the treaty line of the treaty of 1851 to Kampeska lake; thence in a direct line to Reipan or the northeast point of the Coteau des Prairie, and thence passing north of Skunk lake, on the most direct line to the foot of Lake Traverse, and thence along the treaty line of 1851 to the place of beginning.
ARTICLE IV. It is further agreed that a reservation be set apart for all other members of said bands who were not sent to the Crow Creek reservation, and also for the Cut head bands of Yanktonais Sioux, a reservation bounded as follows, viz.:
Beginning at the most easterly point of Devil's lake; thence along the waters of said lake to the most westerly point of the same; thence on a direct line to the nearest point on the Cheyenne river; thence down said river to a point opposite the lower end of Aspen island, and thence on a direct line to the place of beginning.
ARTICLE V. The said reservations shall be apportioned in tracts of (160) one hundred and sixty acres to each head of a family, or single person over the age of (21) twenty-one years, belonging to said bands, and entitled to locate thereon, who may desire to locate permanently and cultivate the soil as a means of subsistence: each (160) one hundred and sixty acres so allotted to be made to conform to the legal subdivisions of the government surveys, when such surveys shall have been made; and every person to whom lands may be allotted under the provisions of this article who shall occupy and cultivate a portion thereof for five consecutive years shall thereafter be entitled to receive a patent for the same so soon as he shall have fifty acres of said tract fenced, ploughed, and in crop: Provided, [That] said patent shall not authorize
Page 420 U. S. 453
any transfer of said lands, or portions thereof, except to the United States, but said lands and the improvements thereon shall descend to the proper heirs of the persons obtaining a patent.
ARTICLE VI. And, further, in consideration of the destitution of said bands of Sissiton and Warpeton Sioux, parties hereto, resulting from the confiscation of their annuities and improvements, it is agreed that Congress will, in its own discretion, from time to time make such appropriations as may be deemed requisite to enable said Indians to return to an agricultural life under the system in operation on the Sioux reservation in 1862; including, if thought advisable, the establishment and support of local and manual labor schools; the employment of agricultural, mechanical, and other teachers; the opening and improvement of individual farms; and generally such objects as Congress in its wisdom shall deem necessary to promote the agricultural improvement and civilization of said bands.
ARTICLE VII. An agent shall be appointed for said bands, who shall be located at Lake Traverse; and whenever there shall be five hundred (500) persons of said bands permanently located upon the Devil's Lake reservation there shall be an agent or other competent person appointed to superintend at that place the agricultural, educational, and mechanical interests of said bands.
ARTICLE VIII. All expenditures under the provisions of this treaty shall be made for the agricultural improvement and civilization of the members of said bands authorized to locate upon the respective reservations, as hereinbefore specified, in such manner as may be directed by law; but no goods, provisions, groceries, or other articles -- except materials for the erection of houses and articles to facilitate the operations of agriculture -- shall be issued to Indians or mixed-bloods on either reservation
Page 420 U. S. 454
unless it be in payment for labor performed or for produce delivered: Provided, That, when persons located on either reservation, by reason of age, sickness, or deformity, are unable to labor, the agent may issue clothing and subsistence to such persons from such supplies as may be provided for said bands.
ARTICLE IX. The withdrawal of the Indians from all dependence upon the chase as a means of subsistence being necessary to the adoption of civilized habits among them, it is desirable that no encouragement be afforded them to continue their hunting operations as means of support, and, therefore, it is agreed that no person will be authorized to trade for furs or peltries within the limits of the land claimed by said bands, as specified in the second article of this treaty, it being contemplated that the Indians will rely solely upon agricultural and mechanical labor for subsistence, and that the agent will supply the Indians and mixed-bloods on the respective reservations with clothing, provisions, &c., as set forth in article eight, so soon as the same shall be provided for that purpose. And it is further agreed that no person not a member of said bands, parties hereto whether white, mixed-blood, or Indian, except persons in the employ of the government or located under its authority, shall be permitted to locate upon said lands, either for hunting, trapping, or agricultural purposes.
ARTICLE X. The chiefs and headmen located upon either of the reservations set apart for said bands are authorized to adopt such rules, regulations, or laws for the security of life and property, the advancement of civilization, and the agricultural prosperity of the members of said bands upon the respective reservations, and shall have authority, under the direction of the agent, and without expense to the government, to organize a force sufficient to carry out all such rules, regulations, or
Page 420 U. S. 455
laws, and all rules and regulations for the government of said Indians, as may be prescribed by the Interior Department: Provided, That all rules, regulations, or laws adopted or amended by the chiefs and headmen on either reservation shall receive the sanction of the agent.
|420 U.S. 425appb|
APPENDIX B TO OPINION OF THE COURT
AGREEMENT OF 1889, RATIFIED BY THE ACT
OF MAR. 3, 1891, 26 STAT. 1035
Whereas, by section five of the act of Congress entitled
"An act to provide for the allotment of lands in severalty to Indians on the various reservations, and to extend the protection of the laws of the United States and Territories over the Indians, and for other purposes,"
approved February eighth, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, it is provided "That at any time after lands have been allotted to all the Indian of any tribe, as herein provided, or sooner," if, in the opinion of the President, it shall be for the best interests of said tribe, it shall be lawful for the Secretary of the Interior to negotiate with such Indian tribe for the purchase and release by the said tribe, in conformity with the treaty or statute under which such reservation is held, of such portions of its reservations not allotted as such tribe shall from time to time, consent to sell, on such terms and conditions as shall be considered just and equitable between the United States and said tribe of Indians, which purchase shall not be complete until ratified by Congress; and the form and manner of executing such release shall also be prescribed by Congress.
Whereas the Sisseton and Wahpeton bands of Dakota or Sioux Indians are desirous of disposing of a portion of the land set apart and reserved to them by the third article of the treaty of February nineteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, between them and the United States,
Page 420 U. S. 456
and situated partly in the State of North Dakota and partly in the State of South Dakota:
Now, therefore, this agreement, made and entered into in pursuance of the provisions of the Act of Congress approved February eighth, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, aforesaid, at the Sisseton Agency, South Dakota, on this the twelfth day of December, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, by and between Eliphalet Whittlesey, D. W. Diggs, and Charles A. Maxwell, on the part of the United States, duly authorized and empowered thereto, and the chiefs, head-men, and male adult members of the Sisseton and Wahpeton bands of Dakota or Sioux Indians, witnesseth:
ARTICLE I.
The Sisseton and Wahpeton bands of Dakota or Sioux Indians hereby cede, sell, relinquish, and convey to the United States all their claim, right, title, and interest in and to all the unallotted lands within the limits of the reservation set apart to said hands of Indians as aforesaid remaining after the allotments and additional allotments provided for in article four of this agreement shall have been made.
ARTICLE II.
In consideration for the lands ceded, sold, relinquished, and conveyed as aforesaid, the United States stipulates and agrees to pay to the Sisseton and Wahpeton bands of Dakota or Sioux Indians, parties hereto, the sum of two dollars and fifty cents per acre for each and every acre thereof, and it is agreed by the parties hereto that the sum so to be paid shall be held in the Treasury of the United States for the sole use and benefit of the said bands of Indians; and the same, with interest thereon at three per centum per annum, shall be at all times subject to appropriation by Congress for the education and civilization of the said bands of Indians, or members thereof,
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Full Text of Case
U.S. Supreme Court
DeCoteau v. District Court, 420 U.S. 425 (1975)
DeCoteau v. District Court
No. 73-1148
Argued December 16, 1974
Decided March 3, 1975*
420 U.S. 425
CERTIORARI TO THE SUPREME COURT OF SOUTH DAKOTA
Syllabus
The Lake Traverse Indian Reservation in South Dakota, created by an 1867 treaty, held terminated and returned to the public domain by an 1891 Act which, in ratification of a previously negotiated 1889 Agreement between the affected Indian tribe and the United States, not only opened all unallotted lands to settlement, but also appropriated and vested in the tribe a sum certain per acre in payment for the express cession and relinquishment of "all" of the tribe's "claim, right, title, and interest" in the unallotted lands; and therefore the South Dakota state courts have civil and criminal jurisdiction over conduct of members of the tribe on the non-Indian, unallotted lands within the 1867 reservation borders. The face of the Act and its surrounding circumstances and legislative history all point unmistakably to this conclusion. Mattz v. Arnett, 412 U. S. 481, and Seymour v. Superintendent, 368 U. S. 351, distinguished. Pp. 420 U. S. 431-449.
No. 73-1148, 87 S.D. 555, 211 N.W.2d 843, affirmed; No. 73-1500, 489 F.2d 99, reversed.
STEWART, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which BURGER, C.J., and WHITE, BLACKMUN, POWELL, and REHNQUIST, JJ., joined. DOUGLAS, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which BRENNAN and MARSHALL, JJ., joined, post, p. 420 U. S. 460.
Page 420 U. S. 426
MR. JUSTICE STEWART delivered the opinion of the Court.
These two cases, consolidated for decision, raise the single question whether the Lake Traverse Indian Reservation in South Dakota, created by an 1867 treaty between the United States and the Sisseton and Wahpeton bands of Sioux Indians, was terminated and returned to
Page 420 U. S. 427
the public domain, by the Act of March 3, 1891, c. 543, 26 Stat. 1035. In each of the two cases, the South Dakota courts asserted jurisdiction over members of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Tribe for acts done on lands which, though within the 1867 reservation borders, have been owned and settled by non-Indians since the 1891 Act. The parties agree that the state courts did not have jurisdiction if these lands are "Indian country," as defined in 18 U.S.C. § 1151, [Footnote 1] and that this question depends upon whether the lands retained reservation status after 1891. [Footnote 2] We hold, for the reasons that follow, that the
Page 420 U. S. 428
1891 Act terminated the Lake Traverse Reservation, and that consequently the state courts have jurisdiction over conduct on non-Indian lands within the 1867 reservation borders.
I
The 1867 boundaries of the Lake Traverse Reservation enclose approximately 918,000 acres of land. Within the 1867 boundaries, there reside about 3,000 tribal members and 30,000 non-Indians. About 15% of the land is in the form of "Indian trust allotments"; these are individual land tracts retained by members of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Tribe when the rest of the reservation lands were sold to the United States in 1891. The trust allotments are scattered in a random pattern throughout the 1867 reservation area. The remainder of the reservation land was purchased from the United States by non-Indian settlers after 1891, and is presently inhabited by non-Indians.
It is common ground here that Indian conduct occurring on the trust allotments is beyond the State's jurisdiction, being instead the proper concern of tribal or federal authorities. In the two cases before us, however, the State asserted jurisdiction over Indians based on conduct occurring on non-Indian, unallotted land within the 1867 reservation borders.
The petitioner in No. 73-1148, Cheryl Spider DeCoteau, is the natural mother of Herbert John Spider and Robert Lee Feather; all are enrolled members of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Tribe. Both children have been assigned to foster homes by order of the respondent District County Court for the Tenth Judicial District of South Dakota. The petitioner gave Robert up for adoption in March of 1971, and Herbert was later separated from her through neglect and dependency proceedings in the respondent court, initiated by the State Welfare Department.
Page 420 U. S. 429
On August 31, 1972, the petitioner commenced a habeas corpus action in a State Circuit Court alleging that the respondent had lacked jurisdiction to order her children separated from her, and asking that they be released from the custodial process of the respondent. After a hearing, the state court denied the writ, finding that the respondent had possessed jurisdiction because
"the non-Indian patented land, upon which a portion of the acts or omissions giving rise to the Order of the District County Court occurred is not within Indian Country. [Footnote 3]"
While acknowledging that this non-Indian patented land is within the 1867 boundaries of the Lake Traverse Reservation, the court noted that the tribe
"had sold or relinquished [the non-Indian land in question] to the United States under the terms of the agreement which was ratified by acts of Congress, March 3, 1891."
The South Dakota Supreme Court affirmed [Footnote 4] upon the ground that the 1891 Act ratified an 1889 Agreement by which
"the Sisseton and Wahpeton Bands of Indians sold their unallotted lands, and the United States Government paid a sum certain for each and every acre
Page 420 U. S. 430
purchased. . . . This, then, was an outright cession and sale of lands by the Indians to the United States. The land sold was separated from the reservation by Congress, and became part of the public domain. [Footnote 5]"
The relators in No. 73-1500 are enrolled members of the tribe who were convicted in South Dakota courts of various violations of the State's penal laws committed on non-Indian lands within the 1867 reservation boundaries. The relators, in the custody of a state penitentiary, separately petitioned for writs of habeas corpus in the United States District Court for the District of South Dakota, alleging that the state courts had lacked criminal jurisdiction over their conduct within the 1867 reservation boundaries. The District Court summarily denied the petitions, but the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reversed. [Footnote 6] In DeMarrias v. South Dakota, 319 F.2d 845, that court had previously held that the 1891 Act had terminated the Lake Traverse Reservation, leaving only allotted Indian lands within tribal or federal jurisdiction. But in the present case, the Court of Appeals overruled its DeMarrias decision, finding it inconsistent with the principles of statutory construction established by this Court in Mattz v. Arnett, 412 U. S. 481, and Seymour v. Superintendent, 368 U. S. 351. The Court of Appeals accordingly held that
"[t]he boundaries of the Lake Traverse Indian reservation remain as they were established in 1867. The scene of the alleged crimes is, therefore, within Indian country. South Dakota had no jurisdiction to try appellants."
489 F.2d 99, 103.
We granted certiorari in the two cases, 417 U.S. 929, to resolve the conflict between the Supreme Court of South Dakota and the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
Page 420 U. S. 431
as to the effect of the 1891 Act on South Dakota's civil and criminal jurisdiction over unallotted lands within the 1867 reservation boundaries.
II
When the Sioux Nation rebelled against the United States in 1862, the Sisseton and Wahpeton bands of the Nation remained loyal to the Federal Government, many members serving as "scouts" for federal troops. This loyalty went unrecognized, however, when the Government confiscated the Sioux lands after the rebellion. In a belated act of gratitude, the United States entered into a treaty with the Sisseton-Wahpeton Tribe in 1867. The treaty granted the tribe a permanent reservation in the Lake Traverse area, and provided for tribal self-government under the supervision of federal agents. [Footnote 7]
But familiar forces soon began to work upon the Lake Traverse Reservation. A nearby and growing population of white farmers, merchants, and railroad men began urging authorities in Washington to open the reservation to general settlement. The Indians, suffering from disease and bad harvests, developed an increasing need for cash and direct assistance. [Footnote 8] Meanwhile, the Government
Page 420 U. S. 432
had altered its general policy toward the Indian tribes. After 1871, the tribes were no longer regarded as sovereign nations, and the Government began to regulate their affairs through statute or through contractual agreements ratified by statute. [Footnote 9] In 1887, the General Allotment Act (or Dawes Act) was enacted in an attempt to reconcile the Government's responsibility for the Indians' welfare with the desire of non-Indians to settle upon reservation lands. [Footnote 10] The Act empowered the President to allot portions of reservation land to tribal members and, with tribal consent, to sell the surplus lands to white settlers, with the proceeds of these sales being dedicated to the Indians' benefit. See Mattz v. Arnett, 412 U.S. at 412 U. S. 496-497.
Against this background, a series of negotiations took place in 1889 with the objective of opening the Lake
Page 420 U. S. 433
Traverse Reservation to settlement. In April of that year, a South Dakota banker, D. W. Diggs, sent to the Secretary of the Interior a request on behalf of the local white community that reservation lands be made available for commerce, farming, and railroad development. [Footnote 11] In May, Diggs met with a council of tribal leaders, who told him that the tribe would consider selling the reserved lands if the Government would first pay a "loyal scout claim" which the tribe believed was owing as part of the 1867 Treaty. Spokesmen for the tribe were quoted in the local press that month as follows:
"We never thought to keep this reservation for our lifetime."
"* * * *"
". . . Now that South Dakota has come in as a state, we have some one to go to to right our wrongs. The Indians have taken their land in severalty. They are waiting for patents. The Indians are anxious to get patents. We are willing the surplus land should be sold. We don't expect to keep reservation. We want to get the benefit of the sale. If the government will pay what they owe, we will be pleased with the opening. There will be left over allotments 880,000 acres. If the government pays what they owe, and pay what they agree per acre, we will be pleased with the opening. When the government asks me to do anything, I am always willing to do it. I hope you will try to get the government to do what is right."
"If the government will do this, it will benefit both the Indians and the whites [and illustrates by holding up half a dozen keys [in a] perpendicular position, separately], we all stand this way [and
Page 420 U. S. 434
then, pressing them against each other], we will be as one key. When the reservation is open, we meet as one body. We be as one."
"* * * *"
". . . If we get the money, we will open up. Your committee needn't be discouraged, we will open up."
". . . We are anxious to become citizens and vote. We have laid before you all we have to say from our hearts. [Footnote 12]"
By summer, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs had apparently been won over, for in August, 1889, he sent to the Secretary of the Interior a set of draft instructions for the guidance of a Commission to negotiate with the Sisseton and Wahpeton Indians for the sale of their surplus lands. [Footnote 13] The instructions noted that the negotiations would be pursuant to § 5 of the General Allotment Act, that the allotment of individual tracts of reservation land to tribal members was already "virtually . . . completed," and that "the Indians desire to sell a portion at least of their surplus [i.e., unallotted] lands."
While these proposed instructions suggested that sale of all the surplus lands might be "inadvisable," the negotiations, in fact, proceeded toward such a total sale. The three Government representatives [Footnote 14] were appointed in November, and two weeks of meetings at the reservation promptly ensued. The proceedings at these meetings
Page 420 U. S. 435
were transcribed, [Footnote 15] and the records show that the Indians wished to sell outright all of their unallotted lands, on three conditions: that each tribal member, regardless of age or sex, receive an allotment of 160 acres; that Congress appropriate moneys to make good on the tribe's outstanding "loyal scout claim"; and that an adequate sales price per acre be arrived at for all of the unallotted land. [Footnote 16]
Page 420 U. S. 436
In December, an Agreement was reached, and the contract was signed by the required majority of male adult tribal members. Its terms [Footnote 17] were accurately summarized
Page 420 U. S. 437
by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs in his report to the Secretary of the Interior: [Footnote 18]
"By article 1, the Indians cede, sell, relinquish, and convey to the United States all the unallotted land within the reservation remaining after the allotments and additional allotments provided for in article 4 shall have been made."
"Article 2 provides that the United States will pay to the Indians $2.50 per acre for the lands ceded."
"Article 3 provides for the payment of back annuities, and continues the annuities of $18,400 until July 1, 1901."
"Article 4 provides for the equalization of allotments so that each person, including married women, shall have 160 acres."
President Harrison immediately submitted the Agreement to Congress for legislative approval. While the
Page 420 U. S. 438
subsequent legislative history is largely irrelevant to the issues before us, three aspects bear notice. First, the several committee reports which commented on the Agreement recognized that it effected a simple and unqualified cession of all of the unallotted lands to the United States for a sum certain. [Footnote 19] Second, the Congress recognized that the Agreement could not be altered, and therefore debate centered largely on the disposition to be made by the United States of the lands it had acquired under the Agreement; it was decided that these lands
Page 420 U. S. 439
should be sold to settlers at $2.50 per acre under the homestead laws [Footnote 20] Third, the Congress included the Sisseton-Wahpeton Agreement in a comprehensive Act which also ratified several other agreements providing for the outright cession of surplus reservation lands to the Government. [Footnote 21] The other agreements employed cession language virtually identical to that in the Sisseton-Wahpeton Agreement, but in these other cases, the Indians sold only a described portion of their lands, rather than all "unallotted" portions, the result being merely a reduction in the size of the affected reservations. [Footnote 22] The intended effect of all of these ratification
Page 420 U. S. 440
agreements was made clear by the sponsors of the comprehensive legislation:
"All the pending agreements or treaties for the purchase of Indian lands are ratified and confirmed by the provisions of this bill. . . ."
"The bill carries the largest appropriation ever carried by an Indian appropriation bill, but it extinguishes the Indian title to a great domain and opens it to settlement by the hardy and progressive pioneers. . . . [Footnote 23]"
"We do not pretend to make any modification or amendment of the agreements themselves. We merely ratify those, and then we take the estate we have acquired in this way, and after providing for the payment of the money, or whatever it is we have agreed to pay these Indians, we take these landed estates and parcel and divide them out among
Page 420 U. S. 441
the people in a fashion that we think is the most conducive to the occupancy of that country by an honest, laborious, earnest, and faithful set of people. [Footnote 24]"
"The remainder of the bill is made up of the other appropriations necessary to carry out the agreements that were made with Indians for the surrender of a large portion of their reservations to the public domain. In the main, it has cost the United States between $1.25 and $1.50 an acre for some ten or eleven million acres of land. All this land is opened by this bill to settlement as part of the public domain upon the payment by the settler of $1.50 an acre, for all except that which was obtained from the Sisseton and Wahpeton reservation, which is open to settlement at $2.50 an acre, because the United States gave the Indians for the surrender $2.50 an acre. [Footnote 25]"
As passed by the Congress, the 1891 Act recited and ratified the 1889 Agreement with the tribe and appropriated $2,203,000 to pay the tribe for the ceded land and to make good the tribe's "loyal scout" claim. § 27, 26 Stat. 1038. A portion of the moneys was made available for immediate distribution to tribal members, on a per capita basis, and the remaining funds were, as had been agreed,
"placed in the Treasury of the United States, to the credit of said . . . Indians [at five percent interest] . . . for the education and civilization of said bands of Indians or members thereof."
§ 27, 26 Stat. 1039. The Act further provided that the 160-acre allotments were to be effected "as soon as practicable," pursuant to the terms of the General Allotment Act. § 29, 26 Stat. 1039. Finally, the Act provided that upon payment of
Page 420 U. S. 442
the per capita purchase moneys to the tribe, and the completion of the enlarged allotment process, "the lands by said agreement ceded, sold, relinquished, and conveyed to the United States" shall be opened
"only to entry and settlement [at $2.50 per acre] under the homestead and townsite laws of the United States, excepting the sixteenth and thirty-sixth sections of said lands, which shall be reserved for common school purposes, and be subject to the laws of the State wherein located,"
§ 30, 26 Stat. 1039.
On April 11, 1892, President Harrison declared open for settlement all "lands embraced in said reservation, saving and excepting the lands reserved for and allotted to said Indians." [Footnote 26] The ceded lands were rapidly purchased and settled by non-Indians.
The jurisdictional history subsequent to the 1891 Act is not wholly clear, but it appears that state jurisdiction over the ceded (i.e., unallotted) lands went virtually unquestioned until the 1960's. The Lake Traverse Reservation was eliminated from the maps published by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs until 1908; thereafter, some Government maps included the area as an "open" or "former" reservation, while more recent ones have characterized it simply as a "reservation." [Footnote 27] Federal Indian agents have remained active in the area, and Congress
Page 420 U. S. 443
has regularly appropriated funds for the tribe's welfare; [Footnote 28] the allotted Indian tracts have retained their "trust" status pursuant to periodic Executive Orders. [Footnote 29] A tribal constitution did not appear until 1946, and tribal jurisdiction under it extended only to "Indian-owned lands lying in the territory within the original confines of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Lake Traverse Sioux Reservation." [Footnote 30] In 1963, the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit held that the 1891 Act had terminated the reservation; in the process, the court noted that "the highest court of that state [South Dakota] has repeatedly held that South Dakota has jurisdiction," and that the Justice Department had taken a like position. DeMarrias v. South Dakota, 319 F.2d 846.
But the Commissioner of Indian Affairs approved a new tribal constitution in 1966, which stated:
"The jurisdiction of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe shall extend to lands lying in the territory within the original confines of the Lake Traverse Reservation as described in Article III of the Treaty of February 19, 1867. [Footnote 31]"
Apparently, however, no tribal court or legal code was established to exercise this jurisdiction. In 1972, a field
Page 420 U. S. 444
solicitor for the Department of the Interior rendered an opinion that the 1891 Act had not extinguished tribal jurisdiction over the 1867 reservation lands. [Footnote 32] In 1973, the Court of Appeals overruled DeMarrias, in the decision here under review, and in early 1974, after several months of preparation, the tribe formally established a law court and a legal code to exercise civil and criminal jurisdiction throughout the 1867 reservation lands.
III
This Court does not lightly conclude that an Indian reservation has been terminated.
"[W]hen Congress has once established a reservation all tracts included within it remain a part of the reservation until separated therefrom by Congress."
United States v. Celestine, 215 U. S. 278, 215 U. S. 285. The congressional intent must be clear, to overcome
"the general rule that '[d]oubtful expressions are to be resolved in favor of the weak and defenseless people who are the wards of the nation, dependent upon its protection and good faith.'"
McClanahan v. Arizona State Tax Comm'n, 411 U. S. 164, 411 U. S. 174, quoting Carpenter v. Shaw, 280 U. S. 363, 280 U. S. 367. Accordingly, the Court requires that the
"congressional determination to terminate . . . be expressed on the face of the Act or be clear from the surrounding circumstances and legislative history."
Mattz v. Arnett, 412 U.S. at 412 U. S. 505. See also Seymour v. Superintendent, 368 U. S. 351, and United States v. Nice, 241 U. S. 591. In particular, we have stressed that reservation status may survive the mere opening of a reservation to settlement, even when the moneys paid for the land by the settlers are placed in trust by the Government for the Indians' benefit. Mattz v. Arnett, supra, and Seymour v. Superintendent, supra.
Page 420 U. S. 445
But in this case, "the face of the Act," and its "surrounding circumstances" and "legislative history" all point unmistakably to the conclusion that the Lake Traverse Reservation was terminated in 1891. The negotiations leading to the 1889 Agreement show plainly that the Indians were willing to convey to the Government, for a sum certain, all of their interest in all of their unallotted lands. See supra at 420 U. S. 432-437. The Agreement's language, adopted by majority vote of the tribe, was precisely suited to this purpose:
"The Sisseton and Wahpeton bands of Dakota or Sioux Indians hereby cede, sell, relinquish, and convey to the United States all their claim, right, title, and interest in and to all the unallotted lands within the limits of the reservation set apart to said bands of Indians as aforesaid remaining after the allotments and additional allotments provided for in article four of this agreement shall have been made. [Footnote 33] "
Page 420 U. S. 446
This language is virtually indistinguishable from that used in the other sum-certain cession agreements ratified by Congress in the same 1891 Act. See nn. 21 and | 21 and S. 425fn22|>22, supra. That the lands ceded in the other agreements were returned to the public domain, stripped of reservation status, can hardly be questioned, and every party here acknowledges as much. The sponsors of the legislation stated repeatedly that the ratified agreements would return the ceded lands to the "public domain." See supra at 21 and S. 440|>440-441. Cf. Mattz v. Arnett, 412 U.S. at 412 U. S. 504 n. 22.
It is true that the Sisseton-Wahpeton Agreement was unique in providing for cession of all, rather than simply a major portion of, the affected tribe's unallotted lands. But, as the historical circumstances make clear, this was not because the tribe wished to retain its former reservation, undiminished, but rather because the tribe and the Government were satisfied that retention of allotments would provide an adequate fulcrum for tribal affairs. In such a situation, exclusive tribal and federal jurisdiction is limited to the retained allotments. 18
Page 420 U. S. 447
U.S.C. 1151(c). See United States v. Pelican, 232 U. S. 442. With the benefit of hindsight, it may be argued that the tribe and the Government would have been better advised to have carved out a diminished reservation, instead of or in addition to the retained allotments. But we cannot rewrite the 1889 Agreement and the 1891 statute. For the courts to reinstate the entire reservation, on the theory that retention of mere allotments was ill-advised, would carry us well beyond the rule by which legal ambiguities are resolved to the benefit of the Indians. We give this rule the broadest possible scope, but it remains at base a canon for construing the complex treaties, statutes, and contracts which define the status of Indian tribes. A canon of construction is not a license to disregard clear expressions of tribal and congressional intent.
The Court of Appeals thought that a finding of termination here would be inconsistent with Mattz and Seymour. This is not so. We adhere without qualification to both the holdings and the reasoning of those decisions. But the gross differences between the facts of those cases and the facts here cannot be ignored.
In Mattz, the Court held that an 1892 Act of Congress [Footnote 34] did not terminate the Klamath River Indian Reservation in northern California. That Act declared the reservation lands "subject to settlement, entry, and purchase" under the homestead laws of the United States, empowered the Secretary of the Interior to allot tracts to tribal members, and provided that any proceeds of land sales to settlers should be placed in a fund for the tribe's benefit. The 1892 statute could be considered a termination provision only if continued reservation status were inconsistent with the mere opening of lands to settlement, and such is not the case. See 18 U.S.C. § 1151(a).
Page 420 U. S. 448
But the 1891 Act before us is a very different instrument. It is not a unilateral action by Congress, but the ratification of a previously negotiated agreement, to which a tribal majority consented. The 1891 Act does not merely open lands to settlement; it also appropriates and vests in the tribe a sum certain -- $2.50 per acre -- in payment for the express cession and relinquishment of "all" of the tribe's "claim, right, title and interest" in the unallotted lands. The statute in Mattz, by contrast, benefited the tribe only indirectly, by establishing a fund dependent on uncertain future sales of its land to settlers. See also Ash Sheep Co. v. United States, 252 U. S. 159, 252 U. S. 164-166. Furthermore, the circumstances surrounding congressional action in Mattz militated persuasively against a finding of termination. That action represented a clear retreat from previous congressional attempts to vacate the Klamath River Reservation in express terms; and the Department of the Interior had consistently regarded the Klamath River Reservation as a continuing one, despite the 1892 legislation. Mattz v. Arnett, supra, at 412 U. S. 503-505. In the present case, by contrast, the surrounding circumstances are fully consistent with an intent to terminate the reservation, and inconsistent with any other purpose. In Seymour, the Court held that a 1906 Act of Congress [Footnote 35] did not terminate the southern portion of the Colville Indian Reservation in Washington. Like that in question in Mattz, this Act was unilateral in character; like that in question in Mattz, it merely opened reservation land to settlement and provided that the uncertain future proceeds of settler purchases should be applied to the Indians' benefit. The Seymour Court was not confronted with a straightforward agreement ceding lands to the Government for a sum certain. In Seymour, the Court sharply contrasted the 1906 Act, which provided
Page 420 U. S. 449
only for non-Indian settlement, with an 1892 Act which plainly "vacated'" and restored "`to the public domain'" the northern portion of the Colville Reservation. Seymour v. Superintendent, 368 U.S. at 368 U. S. 355. The 1891 Act before us here is analogous to that 1892 statute. Thus, in finding a termination of the Lake Traverse Reservation, we are not departing from, but following and reaffirming, the guiding principles of Mattz and Seymour. Until the Court of Appeals altered the status quo, South Dakota had exercised jurisdiction over the unallotted lands of the former reservation for some 80 years. Counsel for the tribal members stated at oral argument that many of the Indians have resented state authority, and suffered under it. Counsel for the State denied this, and argued that an end to state jurisdiction would be calamitous for all the residents of the area, Indian and non-Indian alike. These competing pleas are not for us to adjudge, for our task here is a narrow one. In the 1889 Agreement and the 1891 Act ratifying it, Congress and the tribe spoke clearly. Some might wish they had spoken differently, but we cannot remake history. The judgment in No. 73-1148 is affirmed, and that in No. 73-1500 is reversed.
It is so ordered.
|420 U.S. 425appa|
APPENDIX A TO OPINION OF THE COURT
TREATY OF FEB.19, 1867, 15 STAT. 505,
AS AMENDED, 15 STAT. 509
Whereas it is understood that a portion of the Sissiton and Warpeton bands of Santee Sioux Indians, numbering from twelve hundred to fifteen hundred persons, not only preserved their obligations to the government of the United States, during and since the outbreak of the Medewakantons and other bands of Sioux in 1862, but
Page 420 U. S. 450
freely perilled their lives during that outbreak to rescue the residents on the Sioux reservation, and to obtain possession of white women and children made Captives by the hostile bands; and that another portion of said Sissiton and Warpeton bands, numbering from one thousand to twelve hundred persons, who did not participate in the massacre of the whites in 1862, fearing the indiscriminate vengeance of the whites, fled to the great prairies of the northwest, where they still remain; and
Whereas Congress, in confiscating the Sioux annuities and reservations, made no provision for the support of these, the friendly portion of the Sissiton and Warpeton bands, and it is believed [that] they have been suffered to remain homeless wanderers, frequently subject to intense suffering from want of subsistence and clothing to protect them from the rigors of a high northern latitude, although at all times prompt in rendering service when called upon to repel hostile raids and to punish depredations committed by hostile Indians upon the persons and property of the whites; and
Whereas the several subdivisions of the friendly Sissitons and Warpeton bands ask, through their representatives, that their adherence to their former obligations of friendship to the government and people of the United States be recognized, and that provision be made to enable them to return to an agricultural life and be relieved from a dependence upon the chase for a precarious subsistence: therefore,
A treaty has been made and entered into, at Washington city, District of Columbia, this nineteenth day of February, A. D. 1867, by and between Lewis v. Bogy, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and William H. Watson, commissioners, on the part of the United States, and the undersigned chiefs and headmen of the Sissiton and
Page 420 U. S. 451
Warpeton bands of Dakota or Sioux Indians, as follows, to-wit:
ARTICLE I. The Sissiton and Warpeton bands of Dakota Sioux Indians, represented in council, will continue their friendly relations with the government and people of the United States, and bind themselves individually and collectively to use their influence to the extent of their ability to prevent other bands of Dakota or other adjacent tribes from making hostile demonstrations against the government or people of the United States.
ARTICLE II. The said bands hereby cede to the United States the right to construct wagon roads, railroads, mail stations, telegraph lines, and such other public improvements as the interest of the government may require over and across the lands claimed by said bands (including their reservation as hereinafter designated) over any route or routes that that may be selected by authority of the government, said lands so claimed being bounded on the south and east by the treaty line of 1851 and the Red river of the North to the mouth of Goose river, on the north by the Goose river and a line running from the source thereof by the most westerly point of Devil's lake to the Chief's Bluff at the head of James river, and on the west by the James river to the mouth of Mocasin river, and thence to Kampeska lake.
ARTICLE III. For and in consideration of the cession above mentioned, and in consideration of the faithful and important services said to have been rendered by the friendly bands of Sissitons and Warpetons Sioux here represented, and also in consideration of the confiscation of all their annuities reservations, and improvements, it is agreed that there shall be set apart for the members of said bands who have heretofore surrendered to the authorities of the government, and were not sent to the Crow Creek reservation, and for the members of said
Page 420 U. S. 452
bands who were released from prison in 1866, the following described lands as a permanent reservation, viz.:
Beginning at the head of Lake Travers[e], and thence along the treaty line of the treaty of 1851 to Kampeska lake; thence in a direct line to Reipan or the northeast point of the Coteau des Prairie
ARTICLE IV. It is further agreed that a reservation be set apart for all other members of said bands who were not sent to the Crow Creek reservation, and also for the Cut head bands of Yanktonais Sioux, a reservation bounded as follows, viz.:
Beginning at the most easterly point of Devil's lake; thence along the waters of said lake to the most westerly point of the same; thence on a direct line to the nearest point on the Cheyenne river; thence down said river to a point opposite the lower end of Aspen island, and thence on a direct line to the place of beginning.
ARTICLE V. The said reservations shall be apportioned in tracts of (160) one hundred and sixty acres to each head of a family, or single person over the age of (21) twenty-one years, belonging to said bands, and entitled to locate thereon, who may desire to locate permanently and cultivate the soil as a means of subsistence: each (160) one hundred and sixty acres so allotted to be made to conform to the legal subdivisions of the government surveys, when such surveys shall have been made; and every person to whom lands may be allotted under the provisions of this article who shall occupy and cultivate a portion thereof for five consecutive years shall thereafter be entitled to receive a patent for the same so soon as he shall have fifty acres of said tract fenced, ploughed, and in crop: Provided, [That] said patent shall not authorize
Page 420 U. S. 453
any transfer of said lands, or portions thereof, except to the United States, but said lands and the improvements thereon shall descend to the proper heirs of the persons obtaining a patent.
ARTICLE VI. And, further, in consideration of the destitution of said bands of Sissiton and Warpeton Sioux, parties hereto, resulting from the confiscation of their annuities and improvements, it is agreed that Congress will, in its own discretion, from time to time make such appropriations as may be deemed requisite to enable said Indians to return to an agricultural life under the system in operation on the Sioux reservation in 1862; including, if thought advisable, the establishment and support of local and manual labor schools; the employment of agricultural, mechanical, and other teachers; the opening and improvement of individual farms; and generally such objects as Congress in its wisdom shall deem necessary to promote the agricultural improvement and civilization of said bands.
ARTICLE VII. An agent shall be appointed for said bands, who shall be located at Lake Traverse; and whenever there shall be five hundred (500) persons of said bands permanently located upon the Devil's Lake reservation there shall be an agent or other competent person appointed to superintend at that place the agricultural, educational, and mechanical interests of said bands.
ARTICLE VIII. All expenditures under the provisions of this treaty shall be made for the agricultural improvement and civilization of the members of said bands authorized to locate upon the respective reservations, as hereinbefore specified, in such manner as may be directed by law; but no goods, provisions, groceries, or other articles -- except materials for the erection of houses and articles to facilitate the operations of agriculture -- shall be issued to Indians or mixed-bloods on either reservation
Page 420 U. S. 454
unless it be in payment for labor performed or for produce delivered: Provided, That, when persons located on either reservation, by reason of age, sickness, or deformity, are unable to labor, the agent may issue clothing and subsistence to such persons from such supplies as may be provided for said bands.
ARTICLE IX. The withdrawal of the Indians from all dependence upon the chase as a means of subsistence being necessary to the adoption of civilized habits among them, it is desirable that no encouragement be afforded them to continue their hunting operations as means of support, and, therefore, it is agreed that no person will be authorized to trade for furs or peltries within the limits of the land claimed by said bands, as specified in the second article of this treaty, it being contemplated that the Indians will rely solely upon agricultural and mechanical labor for subsistence, and that the agent will supply the Indians and mixed-bloods on the respective reservations with clothing, provisions, &c., as set forth in article eight, so soon as the same shall be provided for that purpose. And it is further agreed that no person not a member of said bands, parties hereto whether white, mixed-blood, or Indian, except persons in the employ of the government or located under its authority, shall be permitted to locate upon said lands, either for hunting, trapping, or agricultural purposes.
ARTICLE X. The chiefs and headmen located upon either of the reservations set apart for said bands are authorized to adopt such rules, regulations, or laws for the security of life and property, the advancement of civilization, and the agricultural prosperity of the members of said bands upon the respective reservations, and shall have authority, under the direction of the agent, and without expense to the government, to organize a force sufficient to carry out all such rules, regulations, or
Page 420 U. S. 455
laws, and all rules and regulations for the government of said Indians, as may be prescribed by the Interior Department: Provided, That all rules, regulations, or laws adopted or amended by the chiefs and headmen on either reservation shall receive the sanction of the agent.
|420 U.S. 425appb|
APPENDIX B TO OPINION OF THE COURT
AGREEMENT OF 1889, RATIFIED BY THE ACT
OF MAR. 3, 1891, 26 STAT. 1035
Whereas, by section five of the act of Congress entitled
"An act to provide for the allotment of lands in severalty to Indians on the various reservations, and to extend the protection of the laws of the United States and Territories over the Indians, and for other purposes,"
approved February eighth, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, it is provided "That at any time after lands have been allotted to all the Indian of any tribe, as herein provided, or sooner," if, in the opinion of the President, it shall be for the best interests of said tribe, it shall be lawful for the Secretary of the Interior to negotiate with such Indian tribe for the purchase and release by the said tribe, in conformity with the treaty or statute under which such reservation is held, of such portions of its reservations not allotted as such tribe shall from time to time, consent to sell, on such terms and conditions as shall be considered just and equitable between the United States and said tribe of Indians, which purchase shall not be complete until ratified by Congress; and the form and manner of executing such release shall also be prescribed by Congress.
Whereas the Sisseton and Wahpeton bands of Dakota or Sioux Indians are desirous of disposing of a portion of the land set apart and reserved to them by the third article of the treaty of February nineteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, between them and the United States,
Page 420 U. S. 456
and situated partly in the State of North Dakota and partly in the State of South Dakota:
Now, therefore, this agreement, made and entered into in pursuance of the provisions of the Act of Congress approved February eighth, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, aforesaid, at the Sisseton Agency, South Dakota, on this the twelfth day of December, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, by and between Eliphalet Whittlesey, D. W. Diggs, and Charles A. Maxwell, on the part of the United States, duly authorized and empowered thereto, and the chiefs, head-men, and male adult members of the Sisseton and Wahpeton bands of Dakota or Sioux Indians, witnesseth:
ARTICLE I.
The Sisseton and Wahpeton bands of Dakota or Sioux Indians hereby cede, sell, relinquish, and convey to the United States all their claim, right, title, and interest in and to all the unallotted lands within the limits of the reservation set apart to said hands of Indians as aforesaid remaining after the allotments and additional allotments provided for in article four of this agreement shall have been made.
ARTICLE II.
In consideration for the lands ceded, sold, relinquished, and conveyed as aforesaid, the United States stipulates and agrees to pay to the Sisseton and Wahpeton bands of Dakota or Sioux Indians, parties hereto, the sum of two dollars and fifty cents per acre for each and every acre thereof, and it is agreed by the parties hereto that the sum so to be paid shall be held in the Treasury of the United States for the sole use and benefit of the said bands of Indians; and the same, with interest thereon at three per centum per annum, shall be at all times subject to appropriation by Congress for the education and civilization of the said bands of Indians, or members thereof,
