684
Opinion of the Court
Pursuant to the Flood Control Act, the United States also acquired for the Oahe Dam and Reservoir Project an additional 18,000 acres that were owned in fee by non-Indians.3
Although the Tribe conveyed all interests in the 104,420 acres of former trust lands to the United States,4 the Cheyenne River Act reserved to the Tribe or tribal members certain rights respecting the use of these lands. Section 6 reserved "mineral rights" to the Tribe or individual tribal landowners, "subject to all reasonable regulations, which may be imposed by the [Army's] Chief of Engineers." Id., at 1192. Section 7 gave tribal members the right "without charge to cut and remove all timber and to salvage . . . improvements" until the dam area was impounded. Ibid. Section 9 allowed tribal members to continue residing on the taken land until closure of the dam's gates. Id., at 1192- 1193. Section 10 provided that the Tribe would have the right to "graze stock" on the taken lands and that:
"[The] Tribal Council and the members of said Indian Tribe shall have, without cost, the right of free access to the shoreline of the reservoir including the right to hunt and fish in and on the aforesaid shoreline and reservoir, subject, however, to regulations governing the corresponding use by other citizens of the United States." Id., at 1193 (emphasis added).5
3 The record does not reflect how these lands had come to be owned by non-Indians.
4 The question on which we granted certiorari assumes the United States acquired these lands in fee, and the District Court referred to the "transfer of fee ownership from the Tribe to the United States." App. 125. The Court of Appeals, however, referred to the lands as "neither non-Indian-owned fee land nor trust land." 949 F. 2d 984, 990 (CA8 1991). Because the nature of the Government's title is not relevant to our analysis, we may assume that the United States owns the 104,420 acres in fee.
5 The Cheyenne River Act became effective upon confirmation and acceptance in writing by "three-quarters of the adult Indians of the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota." 68 Stat. 1191. Of the Indians eligible to vote, 75.35% approved the Act; of those who actually voted, 92% voted for approval. See App. 266.
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