''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 ...
,
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 ...
, and
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 ...
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.[
]
See also
* List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 526
This is a list of all the United States Supreme Court cases from volume 526 of the ''United States Reports
The ''United States Reports'' () are the official record ( law reports) of the Supreme Court of the United States. They include rulings, ...
* List of United States Supreme Court cases
* Lists of United States Supreme Court cases by volume
* Wisconsin Walleye War
The Wisconsin Walleye War became the name for late 20th-century events in Wisconsin in protest of Ojibwe hunting and fishing rights. In a 1975 case, the tribes challenged state efforts to regulate their hunting and fishing off the reservations, bas ...
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