The Indian Dispossessed
United States, in deciding the Lone Wolf case, declared that "The power exists [in Congress] to abrogate the provisions of an Indian treaty." This sweeping declaration was attended by many suggestions of limitation, of caution, and of the grave responsibility laid upon Congress to exercise this trust with due regard for the national honor:
"Presumably such power will be exercised only when circumstances arise which will not only justify the Government in disregarding the stipulations of the treaty, but may demand, in the interest of the Government and the Indians themselves, that it should do so." And again, "In a contingency such power might be availed of from considerations of governmental policy, particularly if consistent with perfect good faith toward the Indians."
Still again the decision bears upon Congress its moral responsibility:
"We must presume that Congress acted in perfect good faith in the dealings with the Indians, . . . and that the legislative branch of the Government exercised its best judgment in the premises."
In this decision the Supreme Court virtually pronounced the death sentence upon the Indian's treaty rights, with the supplication—"And may Congress have mercy on his soul!" as though it feared the worst.
Indian treaties since the beginning have never been deserving of the name of "treaties"; nearly every
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