Water rights and racial relations
Water rights and racial relations highlight the intersection of access to vital resources and the historical context of Indigenous rights in the United States. As European American settlers expanded westward, Indigenous Americans increasingly lost their rights to water, which was central to their cultural and sustenance practices. Legal recognition of these rights began to emerge in the twentieth century, particularly with the landmark Winters decision in 1907, which acknowledged the reserved water rights of reservations. Throughout the 1970s and beyond, Indigenous Nations began actively contesting water ownership and access, leading to numerous court cases that shaped the legal landscape of water rights.
Significant rulings, such as Nevada v. United States and Arizona v. California, both affirmed and complicated the rights of Native American Tribes to water resources, often depending on the jurisdiction of state versus federal courts. Despite some federal settlements aimed at resolving these disputes, many Indigenous Tribes continued to advocate for their rights through litigation, especially in light of contemporary challenges like drought affecting the Colorado River system. Recent developments indicate ongoing struggles over water rights, including major funding initiatives to support settlements and the Supreme Court's rulings that impact treaty obligations and resource management for Indigenous Nations. This topic underscores the complexities of environmental justice and the need for equitable access to natural resources in the context of historical injustices.
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Water rights and racial relations
As European American settlers moved farther and farther west across the North American continent, Indigenous Americans lost most of their rights to the water they had once used freely. It was not until the twentieth century—and primarily the last two decades of the century—that courts began to recognize Indigenous American rights to the water lying underneath or flowing through their lands. Water is among the most precious resources in many parts of the United States, notably the Southwest. In 1907, a case known as the Winters decision first recognized the reserved water rights of reservations.
In the 1970s, the protection of water rights began to gain recognition as one of the most important issues faced by Indigenous American Nations. Debate began to rage, and cases were taken to court, regarding crucial questions of whether a state or a Tribe owned various water supplies. In addition to the issue of ownership are questions concerning the uses to which water can be put and regulation of access to water. In 1973, the National Water Commission (created by Congress) criticized the government’s failure to adequately protect Native American water rights. A number of court cases in 1983 affected water rights. For example, the Supreme Court, in Nevada v. United States, upheld the allocation of water rights to the Pyramid Lake Reservation in Nevada. On the other hand, the Court denied five Indigenous Nations a larger allocation of Colorado River water rights (Arizona v. California), and it ruled in Arizona v. San Carlos Apache Tribe that state courts have the authority to decide cases involving Native American water rights. In this case, the tribes were attempting to establish that only federal courts should have jurisdiction over these matters. In 1989, Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan announced that the Working Group on Indian Water Settlements would establish principles for guiding settlements and would assist in negotiations with Tribes managed and implemented by the Secretary's Indian Water Rights Office.
Between 1978 and the 2020s, according to the Congressional Research Service, the federal government approved thirty-nine Native American water rights settlements for $8.5 billion, many of which included infrastructure funding. While these federal bodies emphasized negotiation and settlement over litigation, Native American Tribes continued fighting for water rights through the courts. In the 2020s, access to water from the Colorado River system, which had experienced sustained drought, remained a prominent issue among Indigenous American Nations in the area. In 2021, Congress approved $2.5 billion in funding for the Indian Water Rights Settlement Completion Fund as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. In 2023, the Supreme Court blocked an ongoing lawsuit by the Navajo Nation seeking an assessment and quantification of their needs for water pertaining to the lower Colorado River as well as plans for securing it based on an 1800s treaty with the federal government that had ensured they would have a permanent home on their reservation lands. In a 5–4 decision, the Court majority argued that the treaty had not stipulated that the government must take such actions.
Bibliography
Colby, Bonnie G., et al. Negotiating Tribal Water Rights: Fulfilling Promises in the Arid West. U of Arizona P, 2005.
Fixico, Donald Lee. Treaties with American Indians: An Encyclopedia of Rights, Conflicts, and Sovereignty. ABC-CLIO, 2008.
"Indian Water Rights Settlements." Congressional Research Service, 3 Dec. 2024, crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R44148. Accessed 26 Dec. 2024.
Liptak, Adam. "Supreme Court Rules Against Navajo Nation in Water Rights Case." The New York Times, 22 June 2023, www.nytimes.com/2023/06/22/us/politics/supreme-court-navajo-nation-colorado-river-water.html. Accessed 26 Dec. 2024.
"Nevada v. United States." Oyez Project, IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, www.oyez.org/cases/1982/81-2245. Accessed 26 Dec. 2024.
Norman, Emma S. Governing Transboundary Waters: Canada, the United States and Indigenous Communities. Routledge, 2015.
Royster, Judith V., and Barbara Cosens. The Future of Indian and Federal Reserved Water Rights: The Winters Centennial. U of New Mexico P, 2012.
Shurts, John. Indian Reserved Water Rights: The Winters Doctrine in Its Social and Legal Context, 1880s-1930s. U of Oklahoma P, 2000.