Wikipedia:Today's featured article/May 27, 2015
Menominee Tribe v. United States, 391 U.S. 404 (1968), was a case in which the Supreme Court ruled that the Menominee Indian Tribe would keep their historical hunting and fishing rights even after the federal government ceased to recognize the tribe. It was a landmark decision in Native American case law. In the mid-19th century, the tribe, led by Menominee Nation Chief Oshkosh (pictured), had entered into treaties with the United States which did not specifically state that they retained hunting and fishing rights. In 1961, Congress terminated the tribe's federal recognition, and two years later, three members of the tribe were charged with violating Wisconsin's hunting laws on former reservation land. The Indians were acquitted, but when the state appealed, the Wisconsin Supreme Court held that the tribe no longer had hunting and fishing rights due to the termination action. The tribe sued the United States in the U.S. Court of Claims, which ruled that tribal members retained those rights. Opposite rulings by the state and federal courts brought the issue to the Supreme Court, which ruled in the tribe's favor. (Full article...)