Seminole Nation v. United States, 316 U.S. 310 (1942)

Seminole Nation v. United States

No. 830

Argued April 2, 1942
Decided May 11, 1942
316 U.S. 310

CERTIORARI TO THE COURT OF CLAIMS

Syllabus

1. The acquisition from the Creek Nation and the transfer to the Seminole Nation, by the United States in 1882, of a 175,000 acre tract held unrelated to an alleged deficiency in a tract previously transferred to the Seminoles pursuant to Article III of the Treaty of March 21, 1866, since, at the time of the 1882 transfer, no suggestion of a deficiency in the treaty grant had been advanced. P. 315.

2. Under the Act of August 12, 1935, which, in the settlement of claims against the United States by an Indian tribe, authorized offsets of sums expended gratuitously by the United States for the benefit of the tribe, the Court of Claims is required to find the amount of the liability, if any, of the United States on the claim of the tribe, and to designate and find the exact amount of the gratuitous expenditures which may be utilized to extinguish, in whole or in part, that liability. P. 315.

94 Ct.Cls. 240 reversed.

Certiorari, 315 U.S. 791 to review a judgment dismissing the petition of the Seminole Nation in a suit against the United States under a special jurisdictional Act.