South Dakota v. Bourland, 508 U.S. 679, 7 (1993)

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

Opinion of the Court

Before this dispute arose, both the Tribe and the State of South Dakota enforced their respective game and fish regulations in the taken area. The Tribe enforced its regulations against all violators; the State limited its enforcement to non-Indians. In 1988, following a dispute between the State and the tribal respondents regarding the 1988 deer hunting season, the Tribe announced that it would no longer recognize state hunting licenses and that hunters within the reservation would be "subject to prosecution in tribal court" unless licensed by the Tribe. App. 58. In response, the State filed this action against the Chairman of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and the Director of Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Game, Fish and Parks. In its complaint, the State sought to enjoin the Tribe from excluding non-Indians from hunting on nontrust lands within the reservation. In the alternative, the State sought a declaration that the federal takings of tribal lands for the Oahe Dam and Reservoir had reduced the Tribe's authority by withdrawing these lands from the reservation. Id., at 39-40 (Second Amended Complaint). The District Court concluded that the Cheyenne River Act "did not disestablish the Missouri River boundary of the Cheyenne River Reservation." Id., at 103. Nevertheless, relying on Montana v. United States, 450 U. S. 544 (1981), the District Court held that § 10 of the Cheyenne River Act clearly abrogated the Tribe's right to exclusive use and possession of the former trust lands. App. 125. The court further found that "Congress has not expressly delegated to the Tribe hunting and fishing jurisdiction over nonmembers" on the taken lands.6 Id., at 149. The District Court perma-6 Although the District Court ruled on the issue of the Tribe's regulatory jurisdiction over Indians who are not members of the Cheyenne River Sioux, the Court of Appeals vacated that portion of the opinion. It noted that the "issue of tribal jurisdiction over nonmember Indians was neither pled nor tried; the complaint was limited to the question of jurisdiction over non-Indians." 949 F. 2d, at 990. The State did not raise this issue in its petition for certiorari, and hence the only question before us is whether the Tribe may regulate non-Indians who hunt and fish in the taken area.

685

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