Cite as: 532 U. S. 645 (2001)
Opinion of the Court
Supreme Court. Petitioner then sought relief in the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico, which also upheld the tax. A divided panel of the Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit affirmed. See 210 F. 3d 1247 (2000).
Although the Court of Appeals agreed with petitioner that our cases in this area "did make an issue of the fee status of the land in question," id., at 1256, it nonetheless concluded that the status of the land as "fee land or tribal land is simply one of the factors a court should consider" when determining whether civil jurisdiction exists, id., at 1258 (citing 18 U. S. C. § 1151). Relying in part upon our decision in Merrion v. Jicarilla Apache Tribe, 455 U. S. 130 (1982), the court "complement[ed]" Montana's framework with a "case-by-case approach" that balanced the non-Indian fee status of the land with "the nature of the inherent sovereign powers the tribe is attempting to exercise, its interests, and the impact that the exercise of the tribe's powers has upon the nonmember interests involved." 210 F. 3d, at 1255, 1257, 1261. The Court of Appeals then likened the Navajo hotel occupancy tax to similar taxes imposed by New Mexico and Arizona, concluding that the tax fell under Montana's first exception because a "consensual relationship exists in that the non-member guests could refrain from the privilege of lodging within the confines of the Navajo Reservation and therefore remain free from liability for the [tax]." 210 F. 3d, at 1263 (citing Buster v. Wright, 135 F. 947, 949 (CA8 1905)). The dissenting judge would have applied Montana without "any language or 'factors' derived from Merrion" and concluded that, based upon her view of the record, none of the Montana exceptions applied. 210 F. 3d, at 1269 (Briscoe, J., dissenting).
We granted certiorari, 531 U. S. 1009 (2000), and now reverse.
Tribal jurisdiction is limited: For powers not expressly conferred upon them by federal statute or treaty, Indian tribes
649
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