186
Opinion of the Court
here, the court rejected the State's arguments that the 1837 Treaty rights were extinguished by the 1850 Executive Order or by the 1855 Treaty with the Chippewa. Id., at 822-835. With respect to the 1850 Executive Order, the District Court held, in relevant part, that the order was unlawful because the President had no authority to order removal of the Chippewa without their consent. Id., at 823- 826. The District Court also concluded that the United States ultimately abandoned and repealed the removal policy embodied in the 1850 order. Id., at 829-830. With respect to the 1855 Treaty, the District Court reviewed the historical record and found that the parties to that agreement did not intend to abrogate the usufructuary privileges guaranteed by the 1837 Treaty. Id., at 830-835.
At this point in the case, the District Court permitted several Wisconsin Bands of Chippewa to intervene as plaintiffs 2 and allowed the defendants to interpose new defenses. As is relevant here, the defendants asserted for the first time that the Bands' usufructuary rights were extinguished by Minnesota's admission to the Union in 1858. The District Court rejected this new defense. No. 3-94-1226 (D. Minn., Mar. 29, 1996) (Davis, J.), App. to Pet. for Cert. 182-189.
Simultaneously with this litigation, the Fond du Lac Band of Chippewa Indians and several of its members filed a separate suit against Minnesota state officials, seeking a declaration that they retained their rights to hunt, fish, and gather pursuant to the 1837 and 1854 Treaties. Two Minnesota landowners intervened as defendants,3 and the District
2 The Wisconsin Bands are also respondents in this Court: St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin, Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewas, Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin, Sokaogan Chippewa Community, and Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.
3 The landowners who intervened in this suit are Robert J. Edmonds and Michael Sheff. These landowners, along with the six landowners who intervened in the Mille Lacs Band suit, have filed briefs in this Court in
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