Cite as: 526 U. S. 172 (1999)
Rehnquist, C. J., dissenting
President Roosevelt's letter reflects the settled expectations of the President, in whose office the discretion to terminate the privilege granted in Article 5 of the 1837 Treaty was vested, that the 1850 Executive Order was a valid termination of the treaty privileges. And because the 1837 Treaty, in conjunction with the Presidential power over public lands, gave the President the power to order removal in conjunction with his termination of the hunting rights, the Court's severability analysis is unnecessary. In sum, there is simply no principled reason to invalidate the 150-year-old Executive Order, particularly in view of the heightened deference and wide latitude that we are required to give orders of this sort.
III
Although I believe that the clear meaning of the Executive Order is sufficient to resolve this case, and that it is unnecessary to address the Court's treatment of the 1855 Treaty and the 1858 admission of Minnesota to the Union, I shall briefly express my strong disagreement with the Court's analysis on these issues also.
As the Court notes, in 1855, several of the Chippewa Bands agreed, in exchange for further annuity payments of money and goods, to "fully and entirely relinquish and convey to the United States, any and all right, title, and interest, of whatsoever nature the same may be, which they now have in, and to any other lands in the Territory of Minnesota or elsewhere." 10 Stat. 1166. The plain meaning of this provision is a relinquishment of the Indians of "all" rights to the land. The Court, however, interprets this provision in a manner contrary to its plain meaning by first noting that the provision does not mention "usufructuary" rights. It argues, citing examples, that since the United States "had the sophistication and experience to use express language for the abrogation of treaty rights," ante, at 195, but did not mention the 1837 Treaty rights in drafting this
217
Page: Index Previous 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007