432
Blackmun, J., dissenting
reservation,' " ante, at 417, cannot be understood as a statement that the reservation itself was being abolished, since the Uintah Valley Reservation unquestionably survived the opening. McLaughlin's discussion, which went on to explain that each Indian "will have a boundary to your individual holdings," Minutes 368a, is more readily understood as a reference to a change in title to the reservation lands, which clearly would have occurred under the Acts, or to the fact that the lands within the reservation boundary would be open to entry by non-Indians.
McLaughlin's statements immediately following this passage strongly suggest that some Indian interests survived the opening. In response to Indian concerns regarding lifting of the reservation line, McLaughlin stated:
"You fear that you are going to be confined to the tract of land allotted. That is not so, and I will explain a little more clearly. . . . Your Agency will be continued just the same as now; the Agent will have full jurisdiction just the same as now, to protect your interests." Id., at 368a-369a.
Elsewhere, McLaughlin confirmed this statement: "My friends, when you take your allotment you are deprived of no privileges you have at the present time." Id., at 365a.
Although the discussions regarding the allotments concededly are subject to varying interpretations, none of them provides the type of unequivocal evidence of an intent to diminish boundaries or abolish all Indian interests that we require where statutory intent to diminish the reservation is not express. On their face, the negotiations establish that the 1902 Act would have done "no more than open the way for non-Indian settlers to own land on the reservation." Seymour, 368 U. S., at 356. Moreover, the record contains no evidence whatsoever of the Indians' contemporaneous understanding regarding the Act of Mar. 3, 1905, 33 Stat. 1069, which is the operative Act in this case.
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