Whisky In Culdesac

A Umatilla Indian bought whisky in a village inside the original boundaries of the Nez Perce reservation in Idaho and gave a bottle to a Nez Perce allottee. Both men held trust patents to allotted land and were U.S. citizens, and title to the village land had passed to its inhabitants. He was charged with introducing liquor into Indian country and convicted, receiving a $100 fine and just over a year in prison. The prosecution relied on an agreement with the tribe, ratified by Congress, that federal Indian liquor laws would apply to the ceded lands for 25 years. The defence argued the village was no longer Indian country and that Congress could not impose that rule inside a state.