Cite as: 532 U. S. 645 (2001)
Opinion of the Court
tions is inconsistent with the dependent status of the tribes." Id., at 564 (citing United States v. Wheeler, 435 U. S. 313, 326 (1978) ("[T]he dependent status of Indian tribes . . . is necessarily inconsistent with their freedom to determine their external relations" (emphasis deleted))).
Although we extracted from our precedents "the general proposition that the inherent sovereign powers of an Indian tribe do not extend to the activities of nonmembers of the tribe," 450 U. S., at 565, we nonetheless noted in Montana two possible bases for tribal jurisdiction over non-Indian fee land. First, "[a] tribe may regulate, through taxation, licensing, or other means, the activities of nonmembers who enter consensual relationships with the tribe or its members, through commercial dealings, contracts, leases, or other arrangements." Ibid. Second, "[a] tribe may . . . exercise civil authority over the conduct of non-Indians on fee lands within its reservation when that conduct threatens or has some direct effect on the political integrity, the economic security, or the health or welfare of the tribe." Id., at 566. Applying these precepts, we found that the nonmembers at issue there had not subjected themselves to "tribal civil jurisdiction" through any agreements or dealings with the Tribe and that hunting and fishing on non-Indian fee land did not "imperil the subsistence or welfare of the Tribe." Ibid. We therefore held that the Crow Tribe's regulations could not be enforced.
The framework set forth in Montana "broadly addressed the concept of 'inherent sovereignty.' " Strate v. A-1 Contractors, 520 U. S. 438, 453 (1997) (quoting Montana, supra, at 563). In Strate, we dealt with the Three Affiliated Tribes' assertion of judicial jurisdiction over an automobile accident involving two nonmembers traveling on a state highway within the reservation. Although we did not question the ability of tribal police to patrol the highway, see 520 U. S., at 456, n. 11, we likened the public right-of-way to non-Indian fee land because the Tribes lacked the power to
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