Shoshone Tribe of Indians v. United States

Background

A Shoshone Indian tribe sued the United States under a 1927 law, saying the Government broke an 1868 treaty by allowing a band of Northern Arapahoes to occupy half their reservation. The Arapahoes were brought onto the Wind River lands under military escort in 1878 and later treated by federal officials and Congress as co-occupants. The Court of Claims found the Arapahoes’ occupancy became definitive in 1891 and fixed damages accordingly, leaving a money judgment the tribe and the Government both appealed.

Reasoning

The Supreme Court examined whether the proper date to measure compensation was the 1878 unlawful entry, the 1891 Commissioner’s letter, or the 1927 jurisdictional statute. The Court said the 1927 law only gave a forum to decide past wrongs and was not itself a taking. It rejected the lower court’s choice of 1891 and held that the wrongful occupancy should be treated as confirmed from its start in 1878. The Court also explained that compensation can include interest or a fair equivalent to give just payment for what was taken.

Real world impact

The decision sends the case back to the Court of Claims to recalculate damages from the date the Arapahoes first occupied the land in 1878 and to include appropriate interest or its equivalent. That means the Shoshone tribe’s recovery could increase, and the ruling clarifies how similar historic land and treaty claims against the United States should be dated and compensated.