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Violation

Rosebud Sioux Tribe v. Kneip (1977): the 1904 Act diminishes the Rosebud Reservation

Not yet reviewed by this nation. What follows comes from public records and research. It does not speak for the nation.

Rosebud land was opened by Acts of 1904-1910 without the treaty's three-fourths consent; the Supreme Court held the boundaries diminished.

Treaty
Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868); Act of 1889
Nations
Rosebud Sioux Tribe (Sicangu Lakota)
When
1904-1910
Land affected
Reservation boundaries (jurisdiction) in the opened counties.
Legal aftermath
Boundaries diminished as a matter of federal law (jurisdiction); the Tribe continues to hold trust land within the opened area.

What happened

The 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty said no cession of reservation land would be valid unless signed by "at least three-fourths of all the adult male Indians occupying or interested in the same." The Act of March 2, 1889 then set aside the Rosebud Reservation, which the Supreme Court says contained somewhat over 3.2 million acres in five South Dakota counties.

In 1901, Indian Inspector James McLaughlin obtained the written consent of three-fourths of adult men on Rosebud to cede about 416,000 acres of Gregory County for $1,040,000, but Congress never ratified it because it required the government to pay outright. In 1903 McLaughlin sought a new agreement with a different payment method; he got a majority but not three-fourths. Congress then passed acts in 1904, 1907 and 1910 opening unallotted land in Gregory, then Tripp and Lyman, then Mellette counties to homesteaders and towns. The Court called these "unilateral Acts of Congress without the consent of three-fourths" of the Tribe's adult male members, but said that fact did not decide whether Congress meant to shrink the boundaries.

In Rosebud Sioux Tribe v. Kneip (April 4, 1977), the Court held 6 to 3 that the language and history of the Acts "clearly" showed congressional intent to diminish the reservation's boundaries. Justice Marshall, joined by Justices Brennan and Stewart, dissented. The three Acts disposed of all unallotted land in Gregory, Tripp, Lyman and Mellette counties; only Todd County was unaffected, and under the ruling the opened areas are outside the reservation's boundaries.

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

What the sources say, and how this was checked

Well supported by the sources below.

  1. unless executed and signed by at least three-fourths of all the adult male Indians occupying or interested in the sameFort Laramie Treaty, 1868, Article XII (Avalon Project, Yale Law School)
  2. such Acts were unilateral Acts of Congress without the consent of three-fourths of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe's adult male membersRosebud Sioux Tribe v. Kneip, 430 U.S. 584 (1977) (Library of Congress, U.S. Reports)
  3. held clearly to evidence a congressional intent to diminish the boundaries of the ReservationRosebud Sioux Tribe v. Kneip, 430 U.S. 584 (1977), syllabus

Research notes. I read the Court's syllabus and opinion text (Library of Congress). The input's '1907 and 1910 Acts continued that intent' is consistent with the syllabus. The Court did not decide the question of the tribe's trust land within the opened counties; the input's statement that the Tribe continues to hold trust land there was not verified here and is omitted. The vote (6-3) is from the syllabus. The input says the 1904-1910 Acts changed the payment from lump sum; I describe it as the Court does. Later cases on Rosebud's jurisdiction were not checked. The Rosebud Sioux Tribe's own account was not consulted.

Treaty or agreementShapes from the 1899 federal record: approximate, not legal boundaries.

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Nations named 2

Taken to court in 1

Located in 1

Policy era 1

Concerns the instrument 1

Sources

  1. supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/430/584/legal text copy
The record’s fields
What happened
Rosebud Sioux Tribe v. Kneip (1977): the 1904 Act diminishes the Rosebud Reservation -- Congress ratified a 1901 agreement and passed acts in 1904, 1907 and 1910 ceding and opening unallotted lands in Gregory, Tripp, Lyman and Mellette counties. The Supreme Court (Apr. 4, 1977, Rehnquist) held the 1904 Act 'clearly evidence[d] a congressional intent to diminish the boundaries' for Gregory County and that the 1907 and 1910 Acts continued that intent, even though the three-fourths tribal consent was not obtained and payment shifted from a lump sum. Marshall, Brennan and Stewart dissented.
Kind
Violation
Confidence
High
Nation review
Not yet reviewed by this nation

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