page_title: United States v. Sandoval
section_title: Implications for Pueblo lands
hierarchical_section_title: United States v. Sandoval / Aftermath / Implications for Pueblo lands
context_page_description: United States v. Sandoval, 231 U.S. 28, was a United States Supreme Court case deciding whether the federal government's law prohibiting liquor on the land of Santa Clara Pueblo impermissibly infringed on the State of New Mexico's police power under the equal footing doctrine. In a unanimous decision, the Court upheld the law and Congress' ability to recognize and regulate Tribes. Citing broad Congressional authority in Kagama, recognition of Tribes subject to the guardianship of the federal government falls on Congress, not the Court, as long as recognition is not "arbitrary" and actually reflects "distinctly Indian communities."
context_section_description: Sandoval, by holding that Pueblo lands were Indian Indian Country, at least for purposes of liquor regulation by the federal government, cast a cloud over many non-Indian land titles in New Mexico.  In effect, the Court had repudiated the prior view that the Pueblo held land in fee simple and were able to sell land to non-Indians without Congressional approval.  The federal government, which viewed the Pueblo title as held by tribes rather than individual Indians, argued that the Nonintercourse Act applied.   Further, the federal government viewed the Pueblo as a "domestic dependent nation" within the meaning of Cherokee Nation v. Georgia and Worcester v. Georgia.
  New Mexico Senator Holm Bursum proposed legislation to quiet titles in the states.  Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall also supported this approach.
  The bill was discussed on November 3, 1922 at a meeting of 19 Pueblos in Santo Domingo between.  The Pueblos opposed the legislation, publishing  "An Appeal for Fair Play and the Preservation of Pueblo Land" on November 5, 1922.  John Collier published articles outlining the reasons for the Pueblo's opposition in the Santa Fe New Mexican (November 6) and the New York Times (November 7).  Soon thereafter, the hearings for the bill were delayed until February 1923.  In the interim, Secretary Fall was replaced.
  A compromise bill was created in 1924, which some Pueblos supported.  The new bill created a Pueblo Lands Board to resolve disputed claims.
caption: Senator Holm Bursum (R-NM)
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