704
Blackmun, J., dissenting
It is some small consolation that the Court's decision permits the Federal Government to remedy this situation with a more explicit regulation authorizing the Tribe to regulate hunting and fishing in the taken area. See ante, at 691. I regret, however, that the Court's decision makes such action necessary. I dissent.
ing that the statute otherwise bans the taking of eagles by Indians." 476 U. S., at 740. The Court correctly notes that § X of the Cheyenne River Act and § 4 of the Flood Control Act cannot be understood except as indications that Congress intended to divest the Tribe of its right to exclusive use of the taken area. See ante, at 693. It does not follow, however, that Congress intended to divest the Tribe of its right to regulate the hunting and fishing of non-Indians in the taken area. As already noted, continued tribal authority over hunting and fishing is consistent with public access. And it certainly does not follow from Dion, that "[w]hen Congress reserves limited rights to a tribe or its members, the very presence of such a limited reservation of rights suggests that the Indians would otherwise be treated like the public at large." Ante, at 693-694. Indeed, Dion stands for the directly opposite presumption that implicit abrogation of treaty rights is disfavored and that "clear evidence" is required "that Congress actually considered the conflict between its intended action on the one hand and Indian treaty rights on the other, and chose to resolve that conflict by abrogating the treaty." 476 U. S., at 740.
Last modified: October 4, 2007