At 75, argued the consolidated Cherokee Nation claims (202 U.S. 101) before the Supreme Court, securing a settlement exceeding $5 million.
On January 16, 1906, at the age of 75, Belva Lockwood argued the consolidated appeals in United States v. Cherokee Nation (202 U.S. 101) before the Supreme Court, with the arguments continuing through January 18. This case represented the culmination of decades of legal advocacy Lockwood had undertaken on behalf of Native American nations seeking compensation for lands and rights taken by the U.S. government.
The Cherokee Nation's claims, which Lockwood had championed for years, ultimately resulted in a settlement exceeding $5 million distributed among Cherokee claimants — an enormous sum for the era and a significant, if imperfect, measure of justice for a long-standing grievance against the federal government.
This argument marked Lockwood's final appearance before the Supreme Court, closing out a legal career that had spanned more than three decades and encompassed some of the most significant barrier-breaking moments in the history of American women in law. That she was still actively arguing complex, high-stakes federal litigation at 75 years old speaks to her extraordinary stamina and lifelong commitment to using the law as an instrument of justice for marginalized clients, from women seeking equal rights to Native nations seeking restitution. Her advocacy for the Cherokee is remembered as one of the most substantively consequential achievements of her long legal career.