Minnesota v. Mille Lac Band of Chippewa Indians

In an 1837 treaty, several bands of Chippewa Indians (Chippewa) sold land to the United States while reserving usufructory rights to hunt, fish, and gather on it. A later treaty subjected those reserved rights on newly sold land to removal at the president's direction, and in 1850 President Taylor issued an executive order attempting to remove the Chippewa and revoke those rights; that removal effort failed, and a new 1855 treaty — under which the Chippewa sold their remaining land and agreed to move to reservations — made no mention of usufructory rights at all. Minnesota became a state in 1858, and in 1990 the Mille Lac Band (plaintiffs) sued Minnesota (defendant) for a declaration they still held their 1837 usufructory rights, while Minnesota argued those rights were terminated by the 1850 executive order, the 1855 treaty, or Minnesota's statehood.