No. 17-532October Term 2018Decided May 20, 2019
Herrera v. Wyoming
This case concerned a Crow Tribe member’s Wyoming hunting conviction after he killed elk in Bighorn National Forest and argued that an 1868 treaty still allowed tribal members to hunt on unoccupied federal land.
Case status
- Current stage
- Decided
- Latest event
- Decision released May 20, 2019
- What it's about
This case concerned a Crow Tribe member’s Wyoming hunting conviction after he killed elk in Bighorn National Forest and argued that an 1868 treaty still allowed tribal members to hunt on unoccupied federal land. The Supreme Court considered whether that treaty right survived Wyoming’s statehood and the later creation of the national forest.
Question presented
Whether Wyoming's admission to the Union or the establishment of the Bighorn National Forest abrogated the Crow Tribe of Indians' 1868 federal treaty right to hunt on the "unoccupied lands of the United States," thereby permitting the present-day criminal conviction of a Crow member who engaged in subsistence hunting for his family.
- Case path
District Court of Wyoming, Sheridan County / Decision released May 20, 2019
- Area
Decided Supreme Court case
Timing
Decided May 20, 2019
The Court released its decision on May 20, 2019 without hearing oral argument.
Related cases
Grounding
- Grounding
- Primary-source trail available.
- Note
- Plain-English explainer. Official filings and opinions remain authoritative.
- Checked
- Jul 3, 2026
- Method
- Methodology