State v. Nimrod

138 N.W. 377, 30 S.D. 239, 1912 S.D. LEXIS 229
CourtSouth Dakota Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 25, 1912
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 138 N.W. 377 (State v. Nimrod) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering South Dakota Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Nimrod, 138 N.W. 377, 30 S.D. 239, 1912 S.D. LEXIS 229 (S.D. 1912).

Opinion

McCOY, P. J.

The defendant, Joseph Nimrod, was charged with the offense of bigamy, alleged in the information to have been committed as follows: “That Joseph Nimrod, on the ist day of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and nine, at the county of 'Charles Mix, and state of South Dakota aforesaid, and at the city of Wagner, in said county of Charles Mix, state of South Dakota, within the boundaries of the original Yankton Inndian reservation, and upon deeded land for which the United States had heretofore issued a patent in fee, and released all its title, rights, and interest therein, did then and there willfully, unlawfully, and feloniously marry one Victoria Pledges, a female person, she the said Victoria Pledges, being then and-there a mixed-breed -Indian woman of the half blood and a member of the Yankton Sioux tribe of Indians, and her, the said Victoria Pledges, then and thepe had for his wife, he, the., said Joseph Nimrod, being then and there an Indian of -the Yankton Sioux tribe of Indians, and he, the said Joseph Nimrod being then and there a married man, having been theretofore, and on the 17th day of September, A. D. 1905, at the. city of Valentine, Cherry comity, Nebraska, and outside of an Indian reservation, lawfully married to one Caroline Douville, who ivas thereafter known as Caroline Nimrod, and who was then and there a mixed-breed Rosebud Indian and a resident of the Rosebud Indian reservation in South Dakota, she, the said Caroline Douville, being then and there on the ist day of November, 1909, alive and the bonds of matrimony and the marriage between him, -the said Joseph Nimrod, and her, the said Caroline Douville being then and there unliss-olved, the same never having been dissolved, terminated, or annulled by any court having competent jurisdiction, and that he, -the said Joseph Nimrod, at the time of. his said marriage with her, -the said Caroline Douville, had been alloted land on the Yankton Indian reservation 'in South Dakota by the United States, and the said, allotted land had prior thereto. been patented to'him by the United States under and in accordance with the provisions of the act of Congress approved February 8, 1887, entitled 'An act -to provide for -the allotment of lands in 'severalty- to Indians on the various reservations and to ex[251]*251tend the protection of the laws of the United States and the territories over -the Indians and for other purposes/ and in accordance with an act of Congress, approved February 28, 1891, amending ■the said act of February 8, 1887, entitled 'An act to amend and further extend the benefits of the ac-t approved February 8, 1887, entitled “A11 act to provide for the allotment of land in severalty to Indians on the various reservations and to extend the protection of the laws of the United States over the Indians and for other purposes,” ■' and that he, the said Joseph Nimrod, was born within the territorial limits of the United States, and that he, the said Joseph Nimrod, at the time of said marriage with her, the said Victoria Hedges, was under the supervision of the United States Indian agent at Greenwood, South Dakota, the same being the agency maintained by -the United States for the benefit of the Yankton tribe cf Sioux Indians, and that he,, the said Joseph Nimrod, prior to -the time of his said marriage to the said Caroline Douville, had voluntarily taken up within -the limits of the state of South Dakota his residence 'separate and apart from any tribe of Indians within the United States and had adopted the habits of civilized life and was then and there a citizen of the United States and of the state of South Dakota.” To this information the defendant demurred upon the grounds (1) that the alleged facts stated in the said information do not constitute a public offense; (2) that from the facts alleged in said information, if any crime or public offense was committed -the same was not committed within the jurisdiction of this count. The said demurrer was sustained, and the state appeals.

[1] It is the contention of appellant that by reason of the defendant having taken land in severalty under the act of Congress of February 8, 1887 (the Dawes Act), and also having voluntarily taken up within the limits of the state of South Dakota his residence separate and apart from any tribe of Indians within the United States and adopted the habits of civilized life, he ■thereby became a citizen of the United States and of the state of South Dakota, and amenable to all the laws of the state, both civil and criminal. We are inclined to the view that appellant is right in this contention. It is contended by respondent that, inasmuch as it appears from the information that defendant is an Indian, and -that the offense was committed by one Indian against [252]*252another Indian jvithin the 'boundaries of the Yankton Indian reservation, the United 'States has exclusive jurisdiction of the offense. There is much seeming conflict of authority on this question, but a careful examination of the decisions, with the underlying reason, upon the particular facts of each case, removes much of such conflict. One of the best considered cases is that of State v. Columbia George, 39 Or. 127, 65 Pac. 604. The defendant was a Umatilla Indian, and it was held that the provisions of the Dawes Act do not apply to the Umatilla Indians because the allotments on the Umatilla reservation were not made under the provisions of the Dawes Act, but under the provisions of another special act not containing like provisions as to. citizenship and amenability of the allottees to the state laws. The court said: “The language of said first clause of section 6 (Dawes Act) ‘that upon the completion of said allotments and the patenting of the lands to the said allottees/ has reference to the allotments and allottees under the act, and none- other, and hence does not comprehend Indian allottees under special acts and therefore cannot affect the Umatilla Indians.” Also, in this Columbia George Case, in discussing the provisions of the Dawes Act, the learned court draws the plain distinction between Indian allottees who have voluntarily taken up their residence separate and apart from the Indian tribe and adopted the habits of civilized life and those who still retain to some degree the tribal relation, with the plain inference that those who have taken allotments under the Dawes Act, and have wholly abandoned the tribal relation, and have adopted the habits of civilized life would be amenable to- the state laws. Section 6, Act Feb. 8, 1887 (-the Dawes Act), provides that, upon the completion of -said allotments and the patenting of the lands to said allottees, each and every member of the respective bands or tribes of Indians to whom allotments have been made shall have the benefit of and be subject to the laws, both civil and criminal, of -the state or territory in which they may reside, and every Indian- born within the territorial limits of the United States who has voluntarily taken up, within said limits, his residence separate and apart from- any tribe of Indians therein, and has adopted the habits of civilized life, is hereby declared to be a citizen of the United States, and is entitled to all the rights, privileges, and. immunities of such citizens. In construing this act in [253]*253relation to -the commission of crimes by one Indian against another, in the state of North Dakota (U. S. v. Kiya [D. C.] 126 Fed 879), the United States court said: “The language that such Indians ‘should be subject to the laws, both civil and criminal, of the state or territory in which they reside,’ is as plain and comprehensive as it could well be made.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
138 N.W. 377, 30 S.D. 239, 1912 S.D. LEXIS 229, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-nimrod-sd-1912.