Cherokee Nation v. Hitchcock

This United States (US) Supreme Court case, submitted October 23, 1902 and decided December 1, 1902, held that the US Congress has the right to pass legislation that controls the actions and/or property of tribes in the United States without tribal consent. This case began when the Cherokee Nation attempted to stop the Secretary of the Interior from leasing their land for oil extraction. The Cherokee Nation asserted that an 1835 treaty granted them the right to their lands and to self-government. In their decision on this appeal, the Court asserts that the June 28, 1898 act of the US Congress and the case Stephens v. Cherokee Nation (174 U.S. 445) gave the US Congress “practically full control over the Cherokees, as well as other nations constituting the five civilized tribes.” As such, the Court held that the US Congress has the authority to control tribal property because the power of Congress is legislative and therefore not for the courts to determine. The US Supreme Court affirmed, and Justice White delivered the opinion of the court.https://commons.und.edu/indigenous-gov-docs/1207/thumbnail.jp