Leaders in Indian Territory meet in a convention, draft a constitution, and present it to Congress with the request that the region enter the Union as a state named after Sequoyah, the creator of the Cherokee syllabary (see entry for 1821). The Indians fear plans for combining Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory to form the state of Oklahoma, which will leave them outnumbered by non-Indian Oklahomans. Congress rejects the proposed Indian state, thereby paving the way for Indian Territory’s incorporation into Oklahoma two years later (see entry for NOVEMBER 16, 1907).
The Pyramid Lake Paiute’s water rights are violated by dam construction.
The Derby Dam, built on the Truckee River in Nevada, diverts so much water that Pyramid Lake, fed by the Truckee, is reduced to half its size. Even though the Paiute Indians living on the lake’s banks have rights to the water, they are not consulted about the dam’s construction. (See also entry for MARCH 28, 1970.)
United States v. Winans upholds Yakama fishing rights.
In Washington State, Indians have long objected to non-Indian landowners fencing in fishing sites that the Indians have used for centuries. The Yakama (formerly Yakima) take their complaints to the Supreme Court in the case United States v. Winans. The tribe argues that denying access to their ancient fishing areas along the Columbia River is a violation of the Yakama Treaty of1855. In the treaty, the tribe ceded a portion of their land but retained the right to fish in “all usual and accustomed places.”
The Supreme Court rules in the Yakama’s favor, maintaining that the fishing rights guaranteed in the treaty are superior to the rights of the non-Indian owners of the fishing sites. The decision will become an important precedent cited in many fishing - and hunting-rights cases brought to court by Indian groups later in the century.
World History
