United States v. Shoshone Tribe
United States Supreme Court
304 U.S. 111 (1938)
The Shoshone Tribe (plaintiff) received an 1863 treaty reservation for its exclusive, undisturbed use, but in 1878 the United States (defendant) placed the Northern Arapahoe tribe on the same reservation, effectively making the two tribes tenants in common. The Shoshone sued for the value of the land they were forced to share, and the Court of Claims awarded compensation, but the government argued that compensation should exclude the value of the reservation's mineral and timber resources, which it claimed the United States itself owned.
Whether a tribe's treaty right to undisturbed use and occupation of reservation land includes ownership of the minerals and natural resources located on that land, entitling the tribe to compensation reflecting the value of those resources.