Commentary on Johnson v. M’Intosh

Johnson v. M’Intosh1 is the first case in Chief Justice John Marshall’s trilogy of Indian law opinions.2 Two centuries later, these decisions remain the foundation of the legal, political, and sovereign status of Indian tribes within the United States. While concluding that both the property rights and sovereign powers of Indigenous nations are inferior to the property rights and sovereign powers of Christian European nations, Johnson specifically held that “Indians”3 lack the right to fully alienate their lands to anyone other than the United States government.