According to constitution, lands controlled by congress
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Editor,
In trying to review the status of those who believe they should have a seat at the table in the current Water Rights grab in western Montana, I am drawn back to a couple of legal, historical documents: the Treaty of Hellgate of 1855 and the Montana Constitution of 1972.
Article I. of the Hellgate treaty reads: “The said confederated tribes of Indians hereby cede, relinquish, and convey to the United States all their right, title, and interest in and to the country occupied or claimed by them, bounded and described as follows, to wit:”
Article I. of the Montana Constitution reads: “All provisions of the enabling act of Congress, as amended and of Ordinance No. 1, appended to the Constitution of the state of Montana and approved February 22, 1889, including the agreement and declaration that all lands owned or held by any Indian or Indian tribes shall remain under the absolute jurisdiction and control of the congress of the United States, continue in full force and effect until revoked by the consent of the United States and the people of Montana.”
Every inch of land that their moccasins touched was given to the new federal government and most of it, eventually to the individual states as they became states. The “Trust land” within the reservations is federal land, under the “absolute jurisdiction and complete control of congress.”
By our constitution, even non-trust land, owned by any Indian, is considered to be under control of the Congress. Interesting, wouldn’t you say?
Michael Gale
Ronan
