United States v. Omaha Tribe of Indians Omaha Tribe of Indians v. United States, s. 243
| Decision Date | 01 June 1920 |
| Docket Number | Nos. 243,244,s. 243 |
| Citation | 253 U.S. 275,64 L.Ed. 901,40 S.Ct. 522 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES v. OMAHA TRIBE OF INDIANS. OMAHA TRIBE OF INDIANS v. UNITED STATES |
| Court | U.S. Supreme Court |
Mr. Charles H. Marillat, of Washington, D. C., for Omaha Tribe of indians.
Mr. Assistant Attorney General Davis, for the United States.
We have here an appeal and a cross-appeal from a judgment of the Court of Claims in a suit brought under the Act of Jund 22, 1910 (36 Stat. 580, c. 313), which conferred upon that court jurisdiction to hear and determine 'all claims of whatsoever nature which the Omaha tribe of Indians may have or claim to have against the United States * * * under the treaty between the United States and the said tribe of Indians, ratified and affirmed March sixteenth, eighteen hundred and fifty-four, or under any other treaties or laws, or for the misappropriation of any funds of said tribe for purposes not for its material benefit, or for failure of the United States to pay said tribe any money du, ' with authority to hear and determine all legal and equitable claims of the tribe, and also any legal or equitable defense, set-off, or counterclaim, and to settle the rights both legal and equitable of the parties, notwithstanding lapse of time or statutes of limitation.
The Court of Claims, after hearing the case, made findings upon which it awarded judgment in favor of the Indians for various sums aggregating $122,295.31. 53 Ct. Cl. 549.
By article 1 of the treaty of March 16, 1854 (10 Stat. 1043), the Omaha Indians ceded to the United States all their lands west of the Missouri river and south of a line drawn due west from a point stated, reserving the country north of that line for their future home, with a proviso that, if this country should not, on exploration, prove to be a satisfactory and suitable location for the Indians, the President might with their consent set apart and assign to them, within or outside of the ceded country, a residence suited for and acceptable to them, not greater in extent than 300,000 acres, in which ase all of the country belonging to said Indians north of the line specified should be ceded to the United States, and the Indians should receive the same rate per acre for it, less the number of acres assigned in lieu of it, as was agreed to be paid for the lends south of the line. By article 4, in consideration of and payment for the country thus ceded, and certain relinquishments made by the Indians, the United States agreed to pay to them certain sums of money, aggregating $840,000, in specified annual installments commencing on January 1, 1855; these sums to be paid to the Omahas or expended for their use and benefit under the direction of the President of the United States, who was from time to time to determine at his discretion what proportion of the annual payments should be paid in money and what proportion applied to and expended for the moral improvement and education of the Indians, for such beneficial objects as in his judgment would be calculated to advance them in civilization, for buildings, opening farms, fencing, breaking land, providing stock, etc., and for medical purposes. By article 5, in order to enable the Indians to settle their affairs and to remove and subsist themselves for one year at their new home, and for certain other expenses, they were to receive from the United States the further sum of $41,000, to be paid out and expended under the direction of the President and in such manner as he should approve.
The Court of Claims found that the Omahas were not satisfied with the country to the north of the east and west line mentioned, and duly elected to take for their future home a tract of 300,000 acres south of the line; and, this fact being reported to the President, by his direction a tract of 300,000 acres south of the line was set apart for them. The court found that the area of the land north of the line belonging to the Indians was 783,365 acres, and that after deducting from this the 300,000 acres set apart for them in accordance with the provisions of the treaty, there was an excess of 483,365 acres, for which they had not been paid. The price for this was fixed by taking the aggregate of the treaty payments ($881,000) and dividing it by 4,500,000 acres, the area of the lands south of the line ceded by the Omahas to the United States, making the treaty price 19.6 cents per acre, at which rate the 483,365 acres for which the Indians were still to be paid amounted to $94,739.54. This was awarded to them.
The court found that, of the $41,000 specified in article 5, the government expended $23,453.21 in carrying out the provisions of that article, and the balance, $17,546.79, remained in the hands of the Indian agents of the United States charged with the disbursement of the treaty funds, who were guilty of defalcations of this and other moneys to the aggregate amount of $18,202.19. This was allowed.
By the seventh article of the treaty the United States agreed to protc t the Omahas from the Sioux and all other hostile tribes as long as the President might deem such protection necessary. The court found that after the treaty the Sioux made repeated attacks upon the Omahas in the year of removal and subsequent years; that the United States was called upon by the Omahas to protect them, and such protection was necessary as soon as they removed to their new home and for several years thereafter, but no protection was afforded them by the United States. The Sioux killed 22 Omahas and stole 152 horses; the latter worth $30 per head. The court allowed $4,560 for the horses, but made no allowance for the Indians killed.
By a treaty concluded March 6, 1865 (14 Stat. 667), the United States agreed to pay the Omahas for the cession of a part of their reservation the sum of $50,000, to be expended 'for goods, provisions, cattle, horses,' etc., for their benefit. Pursuant to this, as the Court of Claims found, 103 head of stock cattle were delivered in the year 1867, for which $3,432.99 was paid out of money beloging to the Omahas. 'These cattle, when they reached the reservation, were in bad condition, and 50 of them died,' of an average value of $33.33 per head; the 50 being worth $1,666.50. This sum was allowed.
Under article 4 of the treaty of 1854 and article 2 of the treaty of 1865 certain moneys were to be or might be expended for the benefit of the Indians in the way of improvements upon their reservation, and in other ways. Under these provisions, in the year 1875 an infirmary was constructed upon the Omaha and Winnebago consolidated...
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