Nebraska v. Parker

What happened

In 1854 the Omaha Tribe signed a treaty with the United States agreeing to establish a 300,000-acre reservation and to "cede" and "forever relinquish all right and title to" its remaining land in present-day Nebraska for a fixed sum of money. The Tribe was destitute, the Court noted, and sold land in exchange for much-needed revenue. In 1865 it again agreed by treaty to "cede, sell, and convey" about 98,000 more acres.

When the Tribe sought to sell more land in 1872, Congress took a different approach. The 1882 Act authorized the Secretary of the Interior to survey, appraise and sell roughly 50,000 acres of reservation land lying west of a railroad right-of-way, with the proceeds deposited in the U.S. Treasury for the Tribe's benefit. W. E. Peebles bought a tract and established the village of Pender.

In 2006 the Tribe amended its Beverage Control Ordinance and tried to apply it to Pender retailers. Pender and its retailers sued in federal court, with Nebraska intervening on their side. They said Pender was not within the reservation.

The Supreme Court unanimously held, in an opinion by Justice Thomas, that the 1882 Act did not diminish the Omaha Reservation. The Act lacked the textual signs of diminishment. The Tribe's absence from the area for more than 120 years was the "least compelling" evidence, and the justifiable expectations of the non-Indians living there "cannot alone diminish reservation boundaries." The Court expressed no view on whether laches and acquiescence could limit the Tribe's power to tax Pender retailers.

Summarized with AI assistance from 4 sources and checked against their words; not yet reviewed by historians or by the nations. Report an error