Federal Power Commission v. Tuscarora Indian Nation

Federal Power Commission v. Tuscarora Indian Nation

Federal Power Commission v. Tuscarora Indian Nation, ussc|362|99|1960 was a case decided by the United States Supreme Court which determined that the Federal Power Commission was authorized to take lands owned by the Tuscarora Indian tribe by eminent domain under the Federal Power Act for a hydroelectric power project, upon payment of just compensation.

Facts

Robert Moses expropriated convert|550|acre|km2 of the Tuscarora Indian tribe's land in the town of Lewiston, New York for a hydroelectric project in the vicinity of Niagara Falls. The land had been purchased and was owned in fee simple, with the assistance of Henry Dearborn, then Secretary of War, from the Holland Land Company on November 21, 1804, with the proceeds derived from the contemporaneous sale of the tribe's lands in North Carolina, from which they had removed in about the year 1775 to reside with the Oneidas in central New York.

The Tuscaroras objected to the taking on the basis of the Federal Power Act which contained an exception for Indian reservations, forbidding the taking of any part of such lands except after a finding by the Federal Power Commission that the taking "will not interfere or be inconsistent with the purpose for which such reservation was created or acquired ..." and no finding had been made.

The Federal Power Act defined reservations as: "national forests, tribal lands embraced within Indian reservations, military reservations, and other lands and interests in lands owned by the United States, and withdrawn, reserved, or withheld from private appropriation and disposal under the public land laws; also lands and interests in lands acquired and held for any public purpose; but shall not include national monuments or national parks."

The Court's opinion

In an opinion by Justice Whittaker, the Court held that lands held by the Tuscarora tribe were not reservations within the meaning of the act. The Court explained, "The plain words of this definition seem rather clearly to show that Congress intended the term "reservations," wherever used in the Act, to embrace only "lands and interests in lands owned by the United States."

Justice Brennan concurred in the result.

Justices Black, Warren and Douglas dissented saying that the majority's definition of reservation was "artificial".

ee also

*List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 362


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Tuscarora (tribe) — Infobox Ethnic group group = Tuscarora population = 75,000+ regions = Originally from New York, North Carolina region1 = flagcountry|United States (New York) region2 = flagcountry|United States (North Carolina) pop1 = ref1 = region3 =… …   Wikipedia

  • City of Sherrill v. Oneida Indian Nation of N.Y. — City of Sherrill v. Oneida Indian Nation of N.Y. Supreme Court of the United States Argued January 11, 2005 …   Wikipedia

  • Oneida Indian Nation of N.Y. State v. Oneida Cnty. — Oneida Indian Nation of N.Y. State v. Oneida Cnty. Supreme Court of the United States Argued Nov. 6 and 7 …   Wikipedia

  • Oneida Cnty. v. Oneida Indian Nation of N.Y. State — Supreme Court of the United States Argued Oct. 1, 1984 …   Wikipedia

  • Robert Moses Niagara Power Plant — is a hydroelectric power plant in Lewiston, NY near Niagara Falls, NY. The plant diverts water from Niagara River above Niagara Falls and returns the water into the lower portion of the river near Lake Ontario. It has a generating capacity of… …   Wikipedia

  • Aboriginal title in the United States — A document commemorating a 1636 conveyance of land from Narragansett chief Canonicus to Roger Williams The United States was the first jurisdiction to acknowledge the common law doctrine of aboriginal title (also known as original Indian title or …   Wikipedia

  • Nonintercourse Act — Not to be confused with the Non Intercourse Act (1809). The Nonintercourse Act (also known as the Indian Intercourse Act or the Indian Nonintercourse Act) is the collective name given to six statutes passed by the United States Congress in 1790,… …   Wikipedia

  • Connecticut Indian Land Claims Settlement — Foxwoods Resort Casino The Connecticut Indian Land Claims Settlement was an Indian Land Claims Settlement passed by the United States Congress in 1983.[1] The settlement act ended a lawsuit by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe to recover 800 acres of …   Wikipedia

  • Niagara Falls — For other uses, see Niagara Falls (disambiguation). Niagara Falls A view of th …   Wikipedia

  • Robert Moses — Infobox Person name = Robert Moses caption = Robert Moses with a model of his proposed Battery Bridge birth date = birth date|1888|12|18 birth place = New Haven, Connecticut, U.S. death date = death date and age|1981|7|29|1888|12|18 death place …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”