Menominee Tribe v. United States
| Menominee Tribe v. United States | |
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| Argued January 22, 1968 Reargued April 26, 1968 Decided May 27, 1968 |
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| Full case name | Menominee Tribe of Indians v. United States |
| Citations | 391 U.S. 404 (more)
88 S.Ct. 1705, 20 L.Ed. 697
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| Prior history | Menominee Tribe of Indians et al. v. United States, 388 F.2d 998 (Ct. Cl. 1967). |
| Holding | |
| Tribal hunting and fishing rights retained by treaty were not abrogated by the Menominee Termination Act without a clear and unequivocal statement to that effect by Congress | |
| Court membership | |
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| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Douglas, joined by Warren, Harlan, Brennan, White, Fortas |
| Dissent | Stewart, joined by Black |
| Marshall took no part in the consideration or decision of the case. | |
| Laws applied | |
| 10 Stat. 1064 (1854), 25 U.S.C. §§ 891–902, 18 U.S.C. § 1162 | |
Menominee Tribe 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.
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.
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.
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