County of Yakima, et al. v. Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakima Indian Nation (502 U.S. 251)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided January 14, 1992 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 502 U.S. 251 · 112 S. Ct. 683
- Decided
- January 14, 1992
- Term
- October Term 1991
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Scalia
- Issue area
- Civil Rights
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice Scalia delivered the opinion of the Court. The question presented by these consolidated cases is whether the County of Yakima may impose an ad valorem tax on so-called “fee-patented” land located within the Yakima Indian Reservation, and an excise tax on sales of such land. I A In the late 19th century, the prevailing national policy of segregating lands for the exclusive use and control of the Indian tribes gave way to a policy of allotting those lands to tribe members individually. The objectives of allotment were simple and clear cut: to extinguish tribal sovereignty, erase reservation boundaries, and force the assimilation of Indians into the society at large. See, e. g., In re Heff, 197 U. S. 488, 499 (1905). Congress was selective at first, allotting lands under differing approaches on a tribe-by-tribe basis. See F. Cohen, Handbook of Federal Indian Law 129-130 (1982); Gates, Indian Allotments Preceding the Dawes Act, in The Frontier Challenge 141 (J. Clark ed. 1971). These early efforts were marked by failure, however. Because allotted land could be sold soon after it was received, see, e. g., Treaty with Wyandot Nation, Apr. 1, 1850, 9 Stat. 987, 992, many of the early allottees quickly lost their land through transactions that were unwise or even procured by fraud. See Cohen, supra, at 130. Even if sales were for fair value, Indian allottees divested of their…
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