Earl Warren

“ However, there is nothing in the lease or regulations requiring the Indians to seek administrative action from the Government instead of instituting legal proceedings on their own. The existence of the power of the United States to sue upon a violation of the lease no more diminishes the right of the Indian to maintain an action to protect that lease than the general power of the United States to safeguard an allotment affected the capacity of the Indian to protect that allotment. ”

“ We agree that the federal restrictions preventing the Indian from selling or leasing his allotted land without the consent of a governmental official do not prevent the Indian landowner, like other property owners, from maintaining suits appropriate to the protection of his rights.
There remains the question whether the terms of the oil and gas lease or the regulations promulgated by the Secretary of the Interior to govern those leases prevent the Indians from seeking judicial relief for an alleged impairment of their interests under the lease. ”

“ Recognizing these administrative burdens and realizing that the Indian's right to sue should not depend on the good judgment or zeal of a government attorney, the United States has indicated its support of petitioners' position that Indians have a capacity to sue under the oil and gas lease. ”