Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife v. Klamath Indian Tribe

473 U.S. 753 (1985)

Study Aids
Case Briefs Overview
Casebooks
Case Briefs
O
From our private database of 46,300+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife v. Klamath Indian Tribe

United States Supreme Court
473 U.S. 753 (1985)

Facts

In 1864, the Klamath Indian Tribe (plaintiff) ceded more than 20 million acres of its ancestral lands to the United States government, leaving approximately 1.9 million acres as the official Klamath reservation. The 1864 treaty by which the cessation occurred gave the Klamaths exclusive fighting rights within the remaining reservation lands, from which non-Indians were specifically excluded. In the 1890s, the government discovered that it had erroneously omitted more than 617,000 acres from its survey of the Klamath reservation. This led to another agreement, executed in 1901 and ratified in 1906, under which the tribe ceded an additional 621,824 acres of its reservation. The agreement preserved the terms of the 1864 treaty. Congress effectively terminated the reservation in 1954. In 1982, the tribe brought suit against the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and other state officials (the state) (defendant), seeking an injunction against regulation of the tribe’s hunting and fishing activities in the lands ceded in 1901. The federal district court granted summary judgment in favor of the tribe. The federal court of appeals affirmed. The state appealed to the United States Supreme Court.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Stevens, J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 810,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools—such as Yale, Berkeley, and Northwestern—even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

    Unlock this case briefRead our student testimonials

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

    Learn about our approachRead more about Quimbee

Here's why 810,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 810,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,300 briefs - keyed to 988 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership

Casebooks

Natural Resources

Key Terms