''Minnesota v. Mille Lacs Band of Chippewa Indians'', 526 U.S. 172 (1999), was a

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

decision concerning the

usufruct Usufruct () is a limited real right (or ''in rem'' right) found in civil-law and mixed jurisdictions that unites the two property interests of ''usus'' and ''fructus'': * ''Usus'' (''use'') is the right to use or enjoy a thing possessed, directl ...

uary rights of the

Ojibwe The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

(Chippewa) tribe to certain lands it had ceded to the

federal Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

government in 1837. The Court ruled that the Ojibwe retained certain

hunting Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

, and

gathering Gather, gatherer, or gathering may refer to: Anthropology and sociology *Hunter-gatherer, a person or a society whose subsistence depends on hunting and gathering of wild foods *Intensive gathering, the practice of cultivating wild plants as a st ...

rights on the ceded land.

Background

Under the authority of the

Treaty of St. Peters Treaty of St. Peters may be one of two treaties conducted between the United States and Native American peoples, conducted at the confluence of the Minnesota River (then called "St. Peters River") with the Mississippi River, in what today is Me ...

of 1837 (), also known as the "White Pine Treaty," the Ojibwe (Chippewa) Nations ceded a vast tract of lands stretching from what now is north-central

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

to east-central

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

. Article 5 of the treaty states, "The privilege of hunting, fishing, and gathering the

wild rice Wild rice, also called manoomin, Canada rice, Indian rice, or water oats, is any of four species of grasses that form the genus ''Zizania'', and the grain that can be harvested from them. The grain was historically gathered and eaten in both ...

, upon the lands, the

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

s and the

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

s included in the territory ceded, is guaranteed to the Indians, during the pleasure of the

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

." The states of

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, and

were later formed from various ceded territories, including the large tract from the White Pine Treaty. The government officials of these states asserted authority over hunting and fishing rights without regard for the treaty rights reserved by the Ojibwe. From the 1960s to the 1990s, various bands of Ojibwe attempted to reassert their fishing rights on the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

. Those who did so were commonly arrested or harassed. This led to a series of lawsuits and protracted legal battles in each of the three states. The conflict culminated in the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

decision ''Minnesota v. Mille Lacs'' (1999).

Decision

The Court affirmed the rights of the Ojibwe to hunt, fish, and gather on the lands ceded by treaty, contingent upon a set of guidelines to protect the Great Lakes fisheries. This decision is an important victory for proponents of Native American sovereignty.

References

* Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission (1992). ''A Guide to Understanding Chippewa Treaty Rights (Minnesota Edition: Rights, Regulation & Resource Management''. Odanah: Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission. * McClurken, James M. (2000). ''Fish in the Lakes, Wild Rice and Game in abundance''. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press.

External links

Mille Lacs Band of Chippewa Indians v. Minnesota (1994)
* {{caselaw source , case = ''Minnesota v. Mille Lacs Band of Chippewa Indians'', {{ussc, 526, 172, 1999, el=no , findlaw = https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/526/172.html , justia =https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/526/172/ , loc =http://cdn.loc.gov/service/ll/usrep/usrep526/usrep526172/usrep526172.pdf , oyez =https://www.oyez.org/cases/1998/97-1337 United States Supreme Court cases United States Supreme Court cases of the Rehnquist Court United States Native American treaty case law Ojibwe in Minnesota Anishinaabe treaty areas Anishinaabe culture History of Minnesota 1999 in United States case law 1999 in Minnesota Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe

Background

Decision

See also

References

External links