Cite as: 510 U. S. 399 (1994)
Blackmun, J., dissenting
graphic or jurisdictional considerations to find diminishment. Cf. Rosebud Sioux Tribe v. Kneip, 430 U. S. 584 (1977). While these factors may support a finding of diminishment where congressional intent already is clear, therefore, the Court properly does not contend that they may be controlling where Congress' purpose is ambiguous.
Aside from their tangential relation to historical congressional intent, there are practical reasons why we are unwilling to rely heavily on such criteria. The history of the western United States has been characterized, in part, by state attempts to exert jurisdiction over Indian lands. Cf. United States v. Kagama, 118 U. S. 375, 384 (1886) ("[The Indians] owe no allegiance to the States, and receive from them no protection. Because of the local ill feeling, the people of the States where they are found are often their deadliest enemies"). And the exercise of state jurisdiction here has not been uncontested. The Constitution of the Ute Indian Tribe, which was approved by the Secretary of the Interior in 1937, defines the Tribe's jurisdiction as extending "to the territory within the original confines of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation," quoted in Ute Indian Tribe, 521 F. Supp., at 1075. See also Ute Law and Order Code § 1-2-2 (1975), set forth in Ute Indian Tribe, 521 F. Supp., at 1077, n. 8. More than two decades ago, amicus Roosevelt City agreed to the limited exercise of tribal jurisdiction within its city limits. See Memorandum of Agreement between Roosevelt City and the Ute Tribe, Jan. 11, 1972, cited in Ute Indian Tribe, 521 F. Supp., at 1077, n. 8. Federal agencies also have provided services to Indians residing in the disputed areas for many years. In fact, after reviewing the substantial jurisdictional contradictions and confusion in the record on this question, the District Court in Ute Indian Tribe concluded: "One thing is certain: the jurisdictional history of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation is not one of 'unquestioned' exercise of state authority." Id., at 1146.
441
Page: Index Previous 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007