Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock

Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock
Argued October 23, 1902
Decided January 5, 1903
Full case nameLone Wolf, Principal Chief of the Kiowas, et al., v. Ethan A. Hitchcock, Secretary of the Interior, et al.
Citations187 U.S. 553 (more)
23 S. Ct. 216; 47 L. Ed. 299
Case history
Prior19 App. D. C. 315
Holding
Congress has plenary power to abrogate treaty obligations between the United States and Native American tribes unilaterally.
Court membership
Chief Justice
Melville Fuller
Associate Justices
John M. Harlan · David J. Brewer
Henry B. Brown · George Shiras Jr.
Edward D. White · Rufus W. Peckham
Joseph McKenna · Oliver W. Holmes Jr.
Case opinions
MajorityWhite, joined by Fuller, Brewer, Brown, Shiras, Peckham, McKenna, Holmes
ConcurrenceHarlan
Laws applied
U.S. Constitution, Article V

Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock, 187 U.S. 553 (1903), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case brought against the US government by the Kiowa chief Lone Wolf, who charged that Native American tribes under the Medicine Lodge Treaty had been defrauded of land by Congressional actions in violation of the treaty.

The Court declared that the "plenary power" of the United States Congress gave it authority to abrogate treaty obligations between the United States and Native American tribes unilaterally. The decision marked a departure from the holdings of Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, 30 U.S. 1 (1831), and Worcester v. Georgia, 31 U.S. 515 (1832), which had shown greater respect for the autonomy of Native American tribes.