Docket 21-1484

On June 22nd the Supreme Court of the United States sometimes abbreviated SCOTUS decided 5 to 4 that the 1968 Treaty with the Navajo Tribe called for the U.S. to provide the land and funding for sheep, goats, cattle, and corn as well as education and some infrastructure but did not mention water. The decision of the Supreme Court was that if it did not mention water when written and agreed to, one can not just add “water” to the treaty now. The U.S. Supreme Court may not always be correct but they are last so this is likely the final legal decision on this but Congress and the Executive Branch of Government have not yet been heard from.

But then there is this part of the Court decision:

In addition, the Navajos may be able to assert the interests they claim in water rights litigation, including by seeking to intervene in cases that affect their claimed interests, and courts will then assess the Navajos’ claims and motions as appropriate. See 28 U. S. C. §1362; Arizona v. California, 460 U. S. 605, 615 (1983); see also Blatchford v. Native Village of Noatak, 501 U. S. 775, 784 (1991); Moe v. Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of Flathead Reservation, 425 U. S. 463, 472–474 (1976).

So this case is over but the issue is not.