Cite as: 508 U. S. 679 (1993)
Blackmun, J., dissenting
rights prevail, for part 327 applies to "lands and waters which are subject to treaties and Federal laws and regulations concerning the rights of Indian Nations" only to the extent that part 327 is "not inconsistent with such treaties and Federal laws and regulations." § 327.1(f).
In its search for a statement from Congress abrogating the Tribe's right to regulate non-Indian hunting and fishing in the taken area, the majority turns to a provision in the Cheyenne River Act that the compensation paid for the taken area " 'shall be in final and complete settlement of all claims, rights, and demands' of the Tribe." Ante, at 690, quoting Pub. L. 776, § II, 68 Stat. 1191. But this provision simply makes clear that Congress intended no further compensation for the rights it took from the Tribe. It does not address the question of which rights Congress intended to take or, more specifically, whether Congress intended to take the Tribe's right to regulate hunting and fishing by non-Indians. The majority also relies on the fact that § IX of the Act expressly reserved to the Tribe the right to hunt and fish but not the right to regulate hunting and fishing. See ante, at 690. To imply an intent to abrogate Indian rights from such congressional silence once again ignores the principles that "Congress' intention to abrogate Indian treaty rights be clear and plain," Dion, 476 U. S., at 738, and that " 'statutes are to be construed liberally in favor of the Indians, with ambiguous provisions interpreted to their benefit.' " County of Yakima, 502 U. S., at 269, quoting Montana v. Blackfeet Tribe, 471 U. S. 759, 766 (1985). Congress' failure to address the subject of the Tribe's regulatory authority over hunting and fishing means that the Tribe's authority survives and not the reverse.3
3 The majority's assertion that this Court's decision in United States v. Dion, 476 U. S. 734 (1986), supports its conclusion here, see ante, at 693, is difficult to fathom. In Dion, this Court found that an exemption in the Bald Eagle Protection Act permitting the taking of eagles for religious purposes was "difficult to explain except as a reflection of an understand-
703
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