Decoteau, Natural Mother and Next Friend of Feather et al. v. District County Court for the Tenth Judicial District

Decided March 3, 1975. Potter Stewart delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 73-1148 · 420 U.S. 425 (1975) · Cited 449 times

We don’t yet publish a summary of this opinion — read the official text below for the Court’s holding and reasoning.

How the Justices voted

Decided 6–3.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Mattz v. Arnett · 412 U.S. 481 (1973)
• Seymour v. Superintendent of Washington State Penitentiary · 368 U.S. 351 (1962)
• Williams v. Lee · 358 U.S. 217 (1959)
• McClanahan v. Arizona State Tax Commission · 411 U.S. 164 (1973)
• United States v. Mazurie · 419 U.S. 544 (1975)
• United States v. Kagama · 118 U.S. 375 (1886)
• Carpenter v. Shaw · 280 U.S. 363 (1930)
• United States v. Celestine · 215 U.S. 278 (1909)
• Kennerly v. District Court of the Ninth Judicial District of Montana · 400 U.S. 423 (1971)
• United States v. Pelican · 232 U.S. 442 (1914)
• United States v. Nice · 241 U.S. 591 (1916)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Rosebud Sioux Tribe v. Kneip · 430 U.S. 584 (1977)
• Hagen v. Utah · 510 U.S. 399 (1994)
• South Dakota v. Yankton Sioux Tribe · 522 U.S. 329 (1998)
• Solem v. Bartlett · 465 U.S. 463 (1984)
• South Carolina v. Catawba Indian Tribe, Inc. · 476 U.S. 498 (1986)
• Oliphant v. Suquamish Indian Tribe · 435 U.S. 191 (1978)
• Puyallup Tribe, Inc. v. Department of Game of Washington · 433 U.S. 165 (1977)
• Fisher v. District Court of the Sixteenth Judicial District of Montana · 424 U.S. 382 (1976)
• California v. Cabazon Band of Mission Indians · 480 U.S. 202 (1987)
• Andrus v. Glover Construction Co. · 446 U.S. 608 (1980)
• County of Yakima v. Confederated Tribes & Bands of the Yakima Indian Nation · 502 U.S. 251 (1992)
• Rice v. Rehner · 463 U.S. 713 (1983)
• Alaska v. Native Village of Venetie Tribal Government · 522 U.S. 520 (1998)
• Atkinson Trading Co. v. Shirley · 532 U.S. 645 (2001)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

Explore from here

Potter Stewart’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: the U.S. Reports via govinfo.gov; authoring Justice and vote lineup from the Supreme Court Database (Washington University). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).