Supreme Court rules 151-year-old Indian treaty grants hunting rights

The Supreme Court ruled Monday that an 1868 treaty between with the Crow Indians is still valid and grants tribe members hunting rights on some federal lands, breathing new life into Indian-U.S. relations.

Wyoming had charged Clayvin Herrera, a member of the Crow, with offseason hunting in 2014 after state officials discovered him other tribe members hunting bull elk on the Big Horn National Forest, discarding the bodies and only taking the heads for trophies.

Mr. Herrera argued he was permitted to hunt on the land, citing the treaty which guaranteed Indians “the right to hunt on unoccupied lands of the United States so long as game may be found thereon.”