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Violation

Catawba: South Carolina's 1840 Nation Ford treaty, never approved by the United States

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

South Carolina's 1840 Nation Ford deal with the Catawba lacked federal approval; the Court sent the claim back in 1986; a 1993 settlement followed.

Treaty
Treaty of Nation Ford (state treaty with South Carolina)
Nations
Catawba Indian Nation
When
1840-1993
Land affected
About 143,000 acres.
Acreage
144,000 acres (reserve) minus 1 square mile

What happened

The Catawba held a reservation of 144,000 acres in South Carolina, which the Supreme Court describes as "comprising 144,000 acres and 225 square miles." Under the federal Nonintercourse Act, the Court quotes, a conveyance "shall be of any validity in law or equity" only if made by treaty or convention under the Constitution.

In 1840 the Tribe conveyed the tract to South Carolina in return for the State's establishing a new reservation, the Court's opinion says. The Court noted that some 27,000 people now claim title to parcels in the tract. In the Supreme Court's dissent, the agreement is described as one "which the United States never joined or approved." In 1959 Congress passed a law ending federal services to the Tribe.

The Tribe sued. In 1986 the Supreme Court held that the 1959 Act "requires the application of the state statute of limitations to the Tribe's claim" and sent the case back. In 1993 Congress passed a settlement act. The statute refers to $50,000,000 "obligated for payment to the Tribe by Federal, State, local, and private parties" and limits an expanded reservation to 3,000 acres. The Catawba Indian Nation was restored to federal recognition and its land claim was settled rather than decided in court.

Good to know. Federal termination is dated 1959 (the Act) or 1962 (when it took final effect).

Summarized with AI assistance from 2 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. which the United States never joined or approvedSouth Carolina v. Catawba Indian Tribe, 476 U.S. 498 (1986) (Cornell LII)
  2. limited to 3,000 acres, including the Existing ReservationCatawba Indian Tribe of South Carolina Land Claims Settlement Act of 1993, 107 Stat. 1118 (govinfo)

Research notes. Corrections: the input says the Catawba kept one square mile; I did not find that in sources and omitted it. The Encyclopedia of South Carolina dates final federal termination to 1962; the Division of Assets Act is 1959 (confirmed in the Court's opinion). The input says the sale was 'all but one square mile for ~143,000 acres'; not verified. Roots and Recall describes the 1840 treaty as a lease-related agreement with a July 1840 meeting; details differ from the input. Quote in 'sources' for the statute is trimmed from a wrapped line. The ruling limited to statute-of-limitations mattered after termination.

Who is doing the work

Native legal and land defense, nationally

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Connections

These links were matched automatically by name or date and have not yet been reviewed by a person.

Carried out through 1

Nations named 1

Located in 1

Policy era 1

Sources

  1. law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/25/177legal text copy
  2. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catawba_Indian_Nationpointer
The record’s fields
What happened
Catawba: South Carolina's 1840 Nation Ford treaty, never approved by the United States -- The Catawba sold all but one square mile of their 144,000-acre reserve to South Carolina under the 1840 treaty. The treaty never gained Senate ratification or federal approval, and the state lacked authority to make it (a power the Constitution gives the federal government; the Nonintercourse Act is the statutory bar). The federal government terminated the Catawba in 1959. The 1993 Settlement Act reversed termination, recognized the Catawba Indian Nation, and resolved land claims for $50 million with the state (3,000 acres).not yet checked against a source
Legal aftermath
Claim resolved by settlement (1993) rather than by title recovery. South Carolina v. Catawba Indian Tribe, 476 U.S. 498 (1986) applied state limitations periods after termination.not yet checked against a source
Kind
Violation
Confidence
Medium
Nation review
Not yet reviewed by this nation
Notes
  • Some details not yet checked against a source

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