The Constitution protected only individual property, not Indigenous common land

Evidence

Our leaders, my grandpa’s grandpa among them, studied and counciled and sent delegations to Washington to consult. The U.S. Constitution apparently had no power to protect the homelands of indigenous peoples. Removal had made that abundantly clear. But the Constitution did explicitly protect the land rights of citizens who were individual property owners. Perhaps that was the route to a permanent home for the people. — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass, 71

Categorization

• XREF: Constitutional law forced the choice to privatize — core material for the Legal Systems land-rights course on how Western law structurally excludes Indigenous land tenure. — connects to: The Supreme Court gave Indians only occupancy rights, not land title. — Dorothy A. Brown, Getting to Reparations: How Building a…, 746; Settlers invoked Indian property rights only when convenient to their land claims — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 226

Broader Connections

• The Supreme Court gave Indians only occupancy rights, not land title. #expands (0.85) — Dorothy A. Brown, Getting to Reparations, 746
• Settlers invoked Indian property rights only when convenient to their land claims #corroborates (0.72) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 226