Choctaw Nation v. Oklahoma

Mr. Justice White, with whom The Chief Justice and Mr. Justice Black join,

dissenting.

At issue in these cases is the ownership of the lands underlying the Arkansas River from its confluence with the Grand River in Oklahoma downstream to the western border of Arkansas. The Arkansas River is a navigable stream below, but not above, its junction with the Grand River. The contending parties are three Indian tribes on the one hand and the State of Oklahoma on the other. The Cherokees base their claim on a United States patent of 1838 and underlying treaties, the Choctaws and the *644Chiekasaws on an…