Tuscarora and the Niagara Power Project (1960)

What happened

The Tuscarora Nation argued that the Treaty of Canandaigua (1794) shielded its land in western New York. In that treaty, Article III promised the Seneca Nation that the United States "will never claim the same, nor disturb" them in the free use of their lands. The Tuscarora had bought their 4,329-acre tract in fee simple from the Holland Land Company in 1804, with help from the Secretary of War.

In Public Law 85-159 (August 21, 1957), Congress directed the Federal Power Commission to license the Niagara hydroelectric project. In January 1958 the Commission licensed the New York Power Authority, and the revised plan for the reservoir included 1,383 acres of Tuscarora land. The Court of Appeals blocked taking that land, but the Supreme Court reversed in 1960. The majority held that the Tuscarora land was not a federal "reservation" under the Federal Power Act, so the Act's extra protections did not apply, and that licensees could condemn Indian-owned land with just compensation. On the treaty argument, the majority said the Canandaigua treaty was with the Seneca, who sold their interest in 1797, so the Tuscarora title was "free of any treaty."

Justice Black, joined by the Chief Justice and Justice Douglas, dissented, arguing the taking breached the government's long-standing protection of Indian homelands. The Court's ruling means this case is a loss of land through eminent domain after a treaty argument was rejected, not a court finding that a treaty was broken.

Good to know. The Court held that no treaty covered the Tuscarora land, so this was a taking where a treaty argument failed, not a ruled treaty violation.

Summarized with AI assistance from 3 sources and checked against their words; not yet reviewed by historians or by the nations. Report an error