 Aboriginal title statutes in the Thirteen Colonies were one of the principal subjects of legislation by the colonial assemblies in the Thirteen Colonies . With the exception of Delaware , every colony codified a general prohibition on private purchases of Native American lands without the consent of the government . Disputes were generally resolved by special interest legislation or war . Mohegan Indians v. Connecticut ( 1705 – 73 ) , a lawsuit that proceeded for 70 years under special royal enabling acts only to be dismissed on non @-@ substantive grounds , was the first and only judicial test of indigenous tenure . 
