State v. Williamson

¶1This is an appeal by defendant from a judgment of conviction in the Circuit Court of Charles Mix County, South Dakota.

¶2The defendant, Richard Williamson, is an enrolled member of the Yankton Sioux Tribe. On December 14, 1971, the defendant entered a plea of guilty in circuit court to four counts of “obtaining money under false pretenses” and was sentenced to four separate two-year terms in the state penitentiary, the same to run concurrently. The offenses were committed in the cities of Lake Andes and Wagner, South Dakota. In this appeal defendant contends that the State of South Dakota had no jurisdiction to prosecute and convict him since the cities of Lake Andes and Wagner are within the boundaries of the Yankton Sioux Reservation and, therefore, in “Indian Country”.

¶3The term “Indian Country” is defined in 18 U.S.C.A. § 1151 as “all land within the limits of any Indian reservation under the jurisdiction of the United States government, notwithstanding the issuance of any patent.” Act of June 25, 1948, 62 Stat. 757. The law is established that state jurisdiction does not *514extend to Indians in Indian Country.* Williams v. Lee, 1959, 358 U.S. 217, 79 S.Ct. 269, 3 L.Ed.2d 251; State of Arizona ex rel. Merrill v. Turtle, 1969, 9 Cir., 413 F.2d 683; Seymour v. Superintendent of Washington State Penitentiary, 1962, 368 U.S. 351, 82 S.Ct. 424 , 7 L.Ed.2d 346; The City of New Town, North Dakota v. United States, 1972, 8 Cir., 454 F.2d 121; United States ex rel. Condon v. Erickson, D.C.S.D., 344 F.Supp. 777; State v. Molash, 1972, 86 S.D. 558, 199 N.W.2d 591.

¶4Our decision, therefore, turns on the resolution of the narrow question of whether the cities of Lake Andes and Wagner are within “Indian Country”. In order to determine this issue, it is necessary to review the specific treaties, agreements and Acts of Congress dealing with this particular reservation.

¶5The Yankton Sioux Reservation was created by the Treaty of April 19, 1858, 11 Stat. 743, ratified February 16, 1859, Proclamation February 26, 1859; Vol. 1 SDCL p. 74. The boundaries of the Yankton Sioux Reservation, as so established, included the land upon which the cities of Lake Andes and Wagner are presently located. The Yankton Tribe and the United States entered into an agreement, Act of August 15, 1894, 28 Stat. 286, 314, Vol. 1 SDCL p. 137, whereby the Tribe sold a portion of its reservation to the United States. The portion so sold included the cities of Lake Andes and Wagner. This agreement, in part, provided:

¶6Article I.

“The Yankton tribe of Dakota or Sioux Indians hereby cede, sell, relinquish, and convey to the United States all their claim, right, title, and interest in and to *515all the unallotted lands within the limits of the reservation set apart to said Indians as aforesaid.”

¶7Article II.

“In consideration for the lands ceded, sold, relinquished, and conveyed to the United States as aforesaid, the United States stipulates and agrees to pay to the said Yankton tribe of Sioux Indians the sum of six hundred thousand dollars ($600,000), as hereinbefore provided for.”

¶8It is our opinion that this agreement, the Act of 1894, clearly, by its own terms, was an outright cession and sale by the Yankton Tribe of its unallotted lands within the resevation to the United States. The rules of statutory construction are to discover the true intention of the law. 82 C.J.S. Statutes § 311. The intention is to be ascertained by the court primarily from the language used in the statute. 82 C.J.S. Statutes § 322 b(l). Where a tribe sells and the United States pays for all tribal interests, nothing is left in the tribe. It is an absolute conveyance. The land is severed from the reservation and is no longer “Indian Country”. Wood v. Jameson, 1964, 81 S.D. 12, 130 N.W.2d 95; Application of DeMarrias, 1958, 77 S.D. 294, 91 N.W.2d 480; State v. DeMarrias, 1961, 79 S.D. 1, 107 N.W.2d 255, cert. den. 368 U.S. 844, 82 S.Ct. 72, 7 L.Ed.2d 42; DeMarrias v. State of South Dakota, 1962, D.C.S.D., 206 F.Supp. 549; DeMarrias v. State of South Dakota, 1963, 8 Cir., 319 F.2d 845.

¶9In summary, then, we hold that the Act of 1894 disestablished that portion of the Yankton Reservation which was ceded and sold to the United States, and which embodied the land upon which the cities of Lake Andes and Wagner are located. Therefore, these cities are not within “Indian Country” as defined in 18 U.S.C.A. §§ 1151, 1152, 1153; consequently, the State of South Dakota had jurisdiction to prosecute and convict the defendant for crimes committed within these towns.

¶10Affirmed.