Indian title
Definitions from Case Law · United States Supreme Court
Definitions from Case Law
From 314 U.S. 339 - United States v. Santa Fe Pacific Railroad · 1941Most cited · 546 citing opinions
If it were established as a fact that the lands in question were, or were included in, the ancestral home of the Walapais in the sense that they constituted definable territory occupied exclusively by the Walapais (as distinguished from lands wandered over by many tribes), then the Walapais had 'Indian title' which unless extinguished survived the railroad grant of 1866.
How the Supreme Court has restated “Indian title”
Each Supreme Court definition of “Indian title,” sized by how often later courts cited it. “Change” is measured by wording overlap with earlier definitions — a rough signal, not a semantic judgment.
How often courts cite the cases defining “Indian title”
Court decisions citing the 4 opinions that defined “Indian title” — 641 in all, by decade. Counts are citations to the defining cases as a whole, not verified uses of the term. The dip in the most recent years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the latest years.
All 5 definitions, chronological · 1840–1941
- ORIGINAL
The Indian title being only a right of occupancy, the state of North Carolina had the power to grant the fee in the lands, subject to this right.
right of occupancy
This Indian title consisted of the usufruct and right of occupancy and enjoyment; and, so long as it continued, was superior to and excluded those claiming the reserved lands by patents made subsequent to the ratification of the treaty; they could not disturb the occupants under the Indian title. That an action of ejectment could be maintained on an Indian right to occupancy and use, is not open to question.
The Indian title is property, and alienable, unless the treaty had prohibited its sale.
the right to occupy, use, and enjoy the lands, in common with the United States, until partition was made, in the manner prescribed