South Dakota v. Bourland, 508 U.S. 679, 13 (1993)

Page:   Index   Previous  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  19  20  Next

Cite as: 508 U. S. 679 (1993)

Opinion of the Court

At oral argument, respondents insisted that they did not claim the right to exclude nonmembers from the taken area, but only the right to prevent nonmembers from hunting or fishing without appropriate tribal licenses. See Tr. of Oral Arg. 27-28, 30-31. It is ultimately irrelevant whether respondents claim a power to exclude.11 Congress gave the Army Corps of Engineers, not the Tribe, regulatory control over the taken area. And as we have noted, an abrogated treaty right of unimpeded use and occupation of lands "can no longer serve as the basis for tribal exercise of the lesser included power" to regulate. Brendale, 492 U. S., at 424. In the absence of applicable Army Corps regulations allowing the Tribe to assert regulatory jurisdiction over the project lands, we conclude that the Flood Control Act's open-access mandate and the Cheyenne River Act's relevant provisions affirmatively abrogate the Tribe's authority to regulate entry onto or use of these lands.12

The Court of Appeals found Montana inapposite with respect to the 104,420 acres of former trust lands because "[t]he purpose of the [Cheyenne River] Act, unlike that of the Allotment Act at issue in Montana, was not the destruction of tribal self-government, but was only to acquire the property rights necessary to construct and operate the Oahe Dam and Reservoir." 949 F. 2d, at 993. To focus on purpose is to misread Montana. In Montana, the Court did refer to the purpose of the Allotment Acts and discussed the legislative debates surrounding the allotment policy, as well as Congress' eventual repudiation of the policy in 1934 by the In-11 Certainly, the power to regulate is of diminished practical use if it does not include the power to exclude: Regulatory authority goes hand in hand with the power to exclude. See Brendale v. Confederated Tribes and Bands of Yakima Nation, 492 U. S. 408, 423-424 (1989) (opinion of White, J.).

12 We do not address whether South Dakota has regulatory control over hunting and fishing in the taken area. In its declaratory judgment action, the State sought only a judicial determination regarding the Tribe's claim to regulatory jurisdiction.

691

Page:   Index   Previous  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  19  20  Next

Last modified: October 4, 2007