Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock
Case Date: 05/19/2024
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Lone Wolf, Principal Chief of the Kiowas, et al., Appellants., v.
Ethan A. Hitchcock, Secretary of the Interior, et al., Appellees.
Citations
187 U.S. 553 (more)
187 U.S. 553, 23 S.Ct. 216, 47 L.Ed. 299
Prior history
19 App. D. C. 315
Holding
Congress has plenary power to unilaterally abrogate treaty obligations between the United States and Native American tribes.
Court membership
Chief Justice
Melville Fuller
Associate Justices
John M. Harlan · David J. Brewer
Henry B. Brown · George Shiras, Jr.
Edward D. White · Rufus W. Peckham
Joseph McKenna · Oliver W. Holmes, Jr.
Case opinions
Majority
White, joined by Brewer, Brown, Fuller, Holmes, Peckham, McKenna, Shiras
Concur/dissent
Harlan
Laws applied
U.S. Constitution, Article V
Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock, 187 U.S. 553 (1903) was a United States Supreme Court case brought against the US government by the Kiowa chief Lone Wolf, who charged that Native American tribes under the Medicine Lodge Treaty had been defrauded of land by Congressional actions in violation of the treaty.
The Court declared that the "plenary power" of the United States Congress gave it authority to unilaterally abrogate treaty obligations between the United States and Native American tribes. The decision marked a departure from the holdings of Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, 30 U.S. 1 (1831), and Worcester v. Georgia, 31 U.S. 515 (1832), which had given greater respect to the autonomy of Native American tribes.
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