Opinion ID: 1565977
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The General Character of Indian Title.

Text: From the earliest reaches of American jurisprudence, the title of the Indians to the lands of their fathers has been regarded at best as one of occupancy only. In the leading case of Johnson v. McIntosh, 8 Wheat. 543, 574, 21 U.S. 543, 574, 5 L.Ed. 681, Mr. Chief Justice Marshall, referring to the aborigines, said: They were admitted to be the rightful occupants of the soil, with a legal as well as just claim to retain possession of it, and to use it according to their own discretion; but their rights to complete sovereignty, as independent nations, were necessarily diminished, and their power to dispose of the soil, at their own will, to whomsoever they pleased, was denied by the original fundamental principle, that discovery gave exclusive title to those who made it. While the different nations of Europe respected the rights of the natives, as occupants, they asserted the ultimate dominion to be in themselves; and claimed and exercised, as a consequence of this ultimate dominion, a power to grant the soil, while yet in the possession of the natives. These grants have been understood by all, to convey a title to the grantees, subject only to the Indian right of occupancy. The history of America, from its discovery to the present day, proves, we think, the universal recognition of these principles. Half a century later, another Chief Justice  Waite  restated the doctrine in even more emphatic language. In United States v. Cook, 19 Wall. 591, 592, 593, 86 U.S. 591, 592, 22 L.Ed. 210, it was said: The right of the Indians in the land from which the logs were taken was that of occupancy alone. They had no power of alienation except to the United States. The fee was in the United States, subject only to this right of occupancy. This is the title by which other Indians hold their lands. (Emphasis supplied) And another half century later, a third Chief Justice  the one who at this writing presides over the Supreme Court  once again reaffirmed the time-honored principle. In United States v. Alcea Band of Tillamooks, 67 S.Ct. 167, 170, the following language was used: It has long been held that by virtue of discovery the title to lands occupied by Indian tribes vested in the sovereign. This title was deemed subject to a right of occupancy in favor of Indian tribes, because of their original and previous possession. It is with the content of this right of occupancy, this original Indian title, that we are concerned here. As against any but the sovereign, original Indian title was accorded the protection of complete ownership; but it was vulnerable to affirmative action by the sovereign, which possessed exclusive power to extinguish the right of occupancy at will. See also Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, 5 Pet. 1, 17, 48, 30 U.S. 1, 17, 48, 8 L.Ed. 5; Beecher v. Wetherby, 95 U.S. 517, 525, 24 L.Ed. 440; Buttz v. Northern Pacific R., 119 U.S. 55, 66, 7 S.Ct. 100, 30 L.Ed. 330.