Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock

Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued October 23, 1902 Decided January 5, 1903
Full case name	Lone Wolf, Principal Chief of the Kiowas, et al., v. Ethan A. Hitchcock, Secretary of the Interior, et al.
Citations	187 U.S. 553 (more) 23 S. Ct. 216; 47 L. Ed. 299
Case history
Prior	19 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
Majority	White, joined by Brewer, Brown, Fuller, Holmes, Peckham, McKenna, Shiras
Concurrence	Harlan
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.