Opinion ID: 513936
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Rights Concerning Indian Lands

Text: 8 Under the so-called Doctrine of Discovery, long recognized by the Supreme Court, Worcester v. Georgia, 6 Pet. (31 U.S.) 515, 543, 8 L.Ed. 483 (1832); Johnson v. McIntosh, 8 Wheat. (21 U.S.) 543, 573-74, 5 L.Ed. 681 (1823), the discovering nations held fee title to Indian land, subject to the Indians' right of occupancy and use. County of Oneida v. Oneida Indian Nation, 470 U.S. 226, 234, 105 S.Ct. 1245, 1251, 84 L.Ed.2d 169 (1985); Oneida Indian Nation v. County of Oneida, 414 U.S. 661, 667, 94 S.Ct. 772, 777, 39 L.Ed.2d 73 (1974). This distinction between fee title and the Indians' right of occupancy and use, sometimes called Indian title or aboriginal title, gave rise to a corresponding distinction between the rights to affect fee title and Indian title. The right to extinguish Indian title, sometimes called a right of extinguishment, was held by the sovereign--Great Britain in the period prior to the American Revolution. Whether this right was held by the United States or by the individual states during the confederal period is part of the pending controversy. Since the adoption of the Constitution, there has been broad agreement that the right of extinguishment belongs to the national government. See Oneida Indian Nation v. County of Oneida, supra, 414 U.S. at 667, 94 S.Ct. at 777. The right to purchase the fee title to Indian land is known as the right of preemption. Whether the right of preemption enjoyed by the states during the confederal period included the right of extinguishment is also part of the pending controversy. 9