Merrion v. Jicarilla Apache Tribe

What happened

The Jicarilla Apache Tribe lives on a reservation in northwestern New Mexico. It was established by Executive Order in 1887 and contains 742,315 acres, all held as tribal trust property. The Tribe adopted a Revised Constitution, approved by the Secretary of the Interior as required by the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. Under it, the Tribe enacted an ordinance, also approved by the Secretary, imposing a severance tax on oil and natural gas severed, saved and removed from tribal lands.

Petitioners were 21 lessees that extract and produce oil and gas from the reservation under long-term leases with the Tribe. They challenged the tax, along with a second group of oil companies that included Amoco. The federal district court concluded the Tribe lacked the power to impose it, that only state and local authorities could tax oil and gas production on Indian reservations, and that the tax violated the Commerce Clause. The Tenth Circuit reversed.

The Supreme Court, 6-3, affirmed in an opinion by Justice Marshall. It held that "the power to tax is an essential attribute of Indian sovereignty because it is a necessary instrument of self-government and territorial management." Even if the power derived only from the Tribe's power to exclude non-Indians from the reservation, the Tribe could impose this tax. The Court also held that Congress had not taken the power away, and that the tax did not violate the Commerce Clause. Justice Stevens dissented, joined by the Chief Justice and Justice Rehnquist.

Summarized with AI assistance from 3 sources and checked against their words; not yet reviewed by historians or by the nations. Report an error