Herrera v. Wyoming
Issues
Do members of the Crow Tribe of Indians retain the right to hunt outside of the Crow Reservation as established in an 1868 federal treaty, or was that right terminated through the establishment of either the Bighorn National Forest or the state of Wyoming?
In this case, the Supreme Court will decide whether members of the Crow Tribe of Indians retain a right to hunt outside of the Crow Reservation on “unoccupied lands of the United States,” a right which was originally established in an 1868 federal treaty. Clayvin Herrera argues that because Congress has not specifically abrogated this hunting right and because Bighorn National Forest qualifies as unoccupied land which once belonged to the Crow Tribe, the treaty-based hunting right should be upheld. Wyoming, on the other hand, asserts that the establishment of Wyoming as a state and the creation of the Bighorn National Forest extinguished this off-reservation hunting right. The outcome in this case will determine the scope of the 1868 treaty and will clarify the hunting rights afforded to present-day Crow tribal members.
Questions as Framed for the Court by the Parties
Whether Wyoming's admission to the Union or the establishment of the Bighorn National Forest abrogated the Crow Tribe of Indians’ 1868 federal treaty right to hunt on the “unoccupied lands of the United States,” thereby permitting the present-day criminal conviction of a Crow member who engaged in subsistence hunting for his family.
Petitioner Clayvin Herrera is a member of the Crow Tribe of Indians and lives on the Crow Reservation in St. Xavier, Montana. Clayvin Herrera v. Wyoming at 2. In January 2014, Herrera was hunting elk on Crow Reservation.
Edited by
Additional Resources
- Ashley Fox, U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Sheridan County Poaching Case, The Sheridan Press (Sept. 1, 2018).
- Ellen M. Gilmer, High Stakes for Environmental Law as New Term Launches, E&E News (Sept. 24, 2018).
- Andrea Lutz, Crow Man Takes Hunting Case to U.S. Supreme Court, Says 1868 Treaty is on His Side, MTN News (Oct. 13, 2018).