Native+American+Court+Cases

=Important Native American Court Cases and Acts=

[[image:trujillogarley_sm.jpg align="right"]]
This started with a Native American teacher who also served in war who wanted to vote for president in the 1940's but was denied that right at the voting booth for being an indian. This sparked great debate throughout many states over the question whether it was legal or not to deny a native American the right to vote. The court ruled that all Native Americans had the right to vote in all states, regardless of tribe, occupation, education, or wealth. It was a big step for Native American Rights. Pictured to the right is Miguel Trujillo and his family. Miguel is the one in the far right.

Lone Wolf vs. Hickock Supreme Court Decision 1903:
This was started by two Native American tribes who had their lands traded without their tribal consent. Of course, they all agreed that that was against everyone of their rights as Americans to have their land traded away without their permission. Furthermore, past treaties in the 1800's stated that land could not be traded or sold without the tribe that occupies it's permission. This was more of a step backwards for rights as the court stated that the government did have the right to trade tribal land. Also, congress had control of all tribal relations during this time period. Therefore, it was hard for indians to make their voices heard as they were pushed everywhere throughout the country.

Seminole Tribe v. Butterworth Supreme Court Decision 1982:
The Seminole Tribe v. Butterworth Supreme Court Decision was considered a good and a bad thing for Native Americans. This was a pretty important case as it involved indians the rights to build casinos on their lands. Casinos rake in copious amounts of cash, and quite frankly, the Native American population needs it, yet building casinos and resorts and hotels and the works on these lands could also strip the already fragile indian culture from its roots. You try keeping century old traditions alive and run a casino that "normal" people go to. It was stated that yes, Native Americans could build casinos on their land. Though it did lose some indian culture, it gave that group some money to build on.