Cite as: 533 U. S. 353 (2001)
Opinion of O'Connor, J.
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 565-566 (citations omitted).
We concluded in that case that hunting and fishing by non-members on reservation land held in fee by nonmembers of the Tribe did not fit within either of the "Montana exceptions" that permit jurisdiction over nonmembers. The hunting and fishing in that case did not involve a consensual relationship and did not threaten the security of the Tribe. Id., at 557. We "readily agree[d]" with the Court of Appeals in that case, however, that the Tribe "may prohibit nonmembers from hunting or fishing on land belonging to the Tribe or held by the United States in trust for the Tribe," and that "if the Tribe permits nonmembers to fish or hunt on such lands, it may condition their entry by charging a fee or establishing . . . limits." Ibid. In the cases that followed, we uniformly regarded land ownership as an important factor in determining the scope of a tribe's civil jurisdiction.
We have held that the tribe's power to impose taxes on nonmembers doing business on tribal or trust lands of the reservation is "an essential attribute of Indian sovereignty because it is a necessary instrument of self-government and territorial management." Merrion v. Jicarilla Apache Tribe, 455 U. S. 130, 137 (1982). We held that the tribe's power to tax derived from two distinct sources: the tribe's power of self-government and the tribe's power to exclude. Id., at 137, 149. Recognizing that tribes are " 'unique aggregations possessing attributes of sovereignty,' " however, we further explained that the power to tax was "subject to constraints not imposed on other governmental entities" in that the Federal Government could take away that power. Id., at 140-141.
At issue in Brendale v. Confederated Tribes and Bands of Yakima Nation, 492 U. S. 408 (1989), was whether Tribes
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