In an April 2017 ruling in a case involving the alleged diminishment of the Red Lake Indian Reservation’s boundaries in the early 1900s, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals relied, in part, on HRA Senior Historian Ian Smith’s expert report and testimony to find that no diminishment had occurred. The case hinged on Congress’s intent in passing a 1905 law that authorized a railroad company to obtain ownership of reservation lands near Redby, Minnesota. The Eighth Circuit agreed with Mr. Smith’s historical interpretation that Congress had not “clearly and plainly” intended to alter reservation boundaries, but instead enacted the 1905 act as a means of allowing the railroad company to secure “a needed expansion of [its] existing right-of-way.” You can read the opinion in its entirety here: http://media.ca8.uscourts.gov/opndir/17/04/151789P.pdf
