proper government of the Indian tribes by the United States or to the safety and happiness of the Indians themselves.

This question, as to the validity of Article IX of the agreement of 1893, is, we think, concluded by principles announced in former decisions in this court. A leading case is that of United States v. Forty-three Gallons of Whiskey &c., 93 U. S. 188, 193, 195, 197. That was a libel of information by the United States against a lot of whiskey seized and sought to be forfeited by virtue of an act of Congress, approved June 30, 1834, and amended March 15, 1864. The liquors were introduced into an organized village of the State of Minnesota, which village was located upon territory that had been ceded to the United States by a treaty made in 1863 and proclaimed in 1864 with certain bands of Indians. The case proceeded upon the ground that the carrying of the whiskey into the Minnesota village was in violation of an existing act of Congress, making it a crime to introduce spirituous liquors or wines into the "Indian country." The treaty with the Indians, which was involved in that case, provided that the statutes of the United States prohibiting the introduction and sale of spirituous liquors into the Indian country should be the law. throughout all the country ceded, until otherwise directed by Congress or the President. In that case the contention was that the place where the whiskey was found was not Indian country; that it ceased to be such when thè territory was transferred to the United States; and that the extension, by force alone of the Indian treaty, of the Federal laws relating to lands in an organized county of the State was an infringement of the State's lawful jurisdiction and an invasion of its sovereignty, the State having been admitted into the Union upon an equal footing with the original States.

This court said: "The Red Lake and Pembina bands of Chippewa Indians ceded to the United States, by treaty, concluded October 2, 1863, a portion of the lands occupied by them, reserving enough for their own use. The seventh article is in these words "The laws of the United States now in force,

Opinion of the Court.

208 U.S. or that may hereafter be enacted, prohibiting the introduction and sale of spirituous liquors in the Indian country, shall be in full force and effect throughout the country hereby ceded until otherwise directed by Congress or the President of the United States.' The ceded country is now part of an organized county of the State of Minnesota; and the question is, whether the incorporation of this article in the treaty was a rightful exercise of power. If it was, then the proceedings to seize and libel the property introduced for sale in contravention of the treaty were proper, and must be sustained. Few of the recorded decisions of this court are of greater interest and importance than those pronounced in The Cherokee Nation v. The State of Georgia, 6 Pet. 1, and Worcester v. The State of Georgia, 6 Pet. 515. Chief Justice Marshall, in these cases, with a force of reasoning and an extent of learning rarely equalled, stated and explained the condition of the Indians in their relation to the United States and to the States within whose boundaries they lived; and his exposition was based on the power to make treaties and regulate commerce with the Indian tribes. Under the Articles of Confederation, the United States had the power of regulating the trade and managing all affairs with the Indians not members of any of the States; provided that the legislative right of a State within its own limits be not infringed or violated. Of necessity, these limitations rendered the power of no practical value. This was seen by the convention which framed the Constitution; and Congress now has the exclusive and absolute power to regulate commerce with the Indian tribes-a power as broad and as free from restrictions as that to regulate commerce with foreign nations. The only efficient way of dealing with the Indian tribes was to place them under the protection of the general government. Their peculiar habits and character required this; and the history of the country shows the necessity of keeping them 'separate, subordinate, and dependent.' Accordingly, treaties have been made and laws passed separating Indian territory from that of the States, and providing that intercourse and trade with

the Indians should be carried on solely under the authority of the United States. Congress very early passed laws relating to the subject of Indian commerce, which were from time to time modified by the lessons of experience. This power is in nowise affected by the magnitude of the traffic or the extent of the intercourse. As long as these Indians remain a distinct people, with an existing tribal organization, recognized by the political department of the Government, Congress has the power to say with whom, and on what terms, they shall deal and what articles shal! be contraband. If liquor is injurious to them inside of a reservation, it is equally so outside of it, and why cannot Congress forbid its introduction into a place near by, which they would be likely to frequent? It is easy to see that the love of liquor would tempt them to stray beyond their borders to obtain it, and that bad white men, knowing this, would carry on the traffic in adjoining localities, rather than venture upon forbidden ground. If Congress has the power, as the case we have last cited decides, to punish the sale of liquor anywhere to an individual member of an Indian tribe, why cannot it also subject to forfeiture liquor introduced for an unlawful purpose into territory in proximity to that where the Indians live? There is no reason for the distinction; and, as there can be no divided authority on the subject, our duty to them, our regard for their material and moral well-being, would require us to impose further legislative restrictions, should country adjacent to their reservations be used to carry on the liquor traffic with them."

After referring to United States v. Holliday, 3 Wall. 409, in which it was held that Congress could regulate commerce with the individual members of Indian tribes, the court proceeded: "The chiefs doubtless saw, from the curtailment of their reservation and the consequent restriction of the limits of the 'Indian country' that the ceded lands would be used to store liquors for sale to the young men of the tribe; and they well knew that, if there was no cession, they were already sufficiently protected by the extent of their reservation. Under such cir

cumstances it was natural that they should be unwilling to sell until assured that the commercial regulation respecting the introduction of spirituous liquors should remain in force in the ceded country, until otherwise directed by Congress or the President. This stipulation was not only reasonable in itself, but was justly due from a strong Government to a weak people it had engaged to protect. It is not easy to see how it infringes upon the position of equality which Minnesota holds with the other States. The principle that Federal jurisdiction must be everywhere the same, under the same circumstances, has not been departed from. The prohibition rests on grounds which, so far from making a distinction between the States, apply to them all alike. The fact that the ceded territory is within the limits of Minnesota is a mere incident; for the act of Congress imported into the treaty applies alike to all Indian tribes occupying a particular country, whether within or without state lines. Based, as it is, exclusively on the Federal authority over the subject-matter, there is no disturbance of the principle of state equality."

The result in that case was that the whiskey was forfeited because illegally introduced in violation of the treaty with the Indians, and this notwithstanding the place at which it was found and seized was within a State.

In Bates v. Clark, 95 U. S. 204, 208, 209, the court said that Indian lands ceased, without any further act of Congress, to be Indian country after the Indian title had been extinguished, but it took care to add the qualifying words, "unless by the treaty by which the Indians parted with their title, or by some act of Congress, a different rule was made applicable to the case." Referring to the treaty involved in the case of the Forty-three Gallons of Whiskey, the court further said: "When this treaty was made, in 1864, the land ceded was within the territorial limits of the State of Minnesota. The opinion holds that it was Indian country before the treaty, and did not cease to be so when the treaty was made, by reason of the special clause to the contrary in the treaty, though within the boundaries

of a State. It follows from this that all the country described by the act of 1834 as Indian country remains Indian country as long as the Indians retained their original title to the soil, and ceases to be Indian country whenever they lose that title, in the absence of any different provision by treaty or by act of Congress." See also Ex parte Crow Dog, 109 U. S. 556, 561.

Following our former decisions, we adjudge that the agreement between the United States and the Nez Perce Indians, whereby the Indian lands ceded, retained and allotted to the Nez Perce Indians, should be subject (not without limit as to time, but only for twenty-five years) to any Federal statutes prohibiting the introduction of intoxicants into the Indian country, was not liable to objection on constitutional grounds; in which case the demurrer to the indictment was properly overruled, and the plaintiff in error rightfully convicted.

In view of some contentions of counsel and of certain general observations in the case of Forty-three Gallons of Whiskey, above cited, not necessary to the decision of that case, but upon which some stress has been laid, it is well to add that we do not mean, by anything now said, to indicate what, in our judgment, is the full scope of the treaty-making power of Congress, nor how far, if at all, a treaty may permanently displace valid state laws or regulations. We go no further in this case than to say that the requirement, in the agreement of 1893, that the Federal liquor statutes protecting the Indian country against the introduction of intoxicants into it should, for the limited period of twenty-five years, be the law for the lands ceded and retained by, as well as the lands allotted to, the Nez Perce Indians, was a valid regulation based upon the treaty-making power of the United States and upon the power of Congress to regulate commerce with those Indians, and was not inconsistent, in any substantial sense, with the constitutional principle that a new State comes into the Union upon entire equality with the original States. The judgment must, for the reasons stated, be affirmed.

It is so ordered.