Antonin Scalia

“ It is quite reasonable to say, in other words, that though the object of the sale here is land, that does not make land the object of the tax, and hence does not invoke the Burke Act proviso. When we are faced with these two possible constructions, our choice between them must be dictated by a principle deeply rooted in this Court's Indian jurisprudence: "statutes are to be construed liberally in favor of the Indians, with ambiguous provisions interpreted to their benefit." Montana v. Blackfeet Tribe of Indians, 471 U.S., at 766, 105 S.Ct., at 2403. ”

“ We hold that the General Allotment Act permits Yakima County to impose an ad valorem tax on reservation land patented in fee pursuant to the Act, but does not allow the County to enforce its excise tax on sales of such land. The Yakima Nation contends it is not clear whether the parcels at issue in this case were patented under the General Allotment Act, rather than under some other statutes in force prior to the Indian Reorganization Act. ”

“ Balancing of interests is not the appropriate gauge for determining validity since it is that very balancing which we have reserved to Congress." Washington v. Confederated Tribes of Colville Reservation, 447 U.S. 134, 177, 100 S.Ct. 2069, 2093, 65 L.Ed.2d 10 (1980) (opinion of REHNQUIST, J.) . If the Ninth Circuit's Brendale test were the law, litigation would surely engulf the States' annual assessment and taxation process, with the validity of each levy dependent upon a multiplicity of factors that vary from year to year, and from parcel to parcel. ”

“ The Yakima Indian Reservation, which was established by treaty in 1855, see Treaty between the United States and Yakama Nation of Indians, 12 Stat. 951, covers approximately 1.3 million acres in southeastern Washington State. Eighty percent of the reservation's land is held by the United States in trust for the benefit of the Tribe or its individual members; 20 percent is owned in fee by Indians and non-Indians as a result of patents distributed during the allotment era. See Brendale v. ”

“ Neither of the parties supports this aspect of the Ninth Circuit's ruling, believing that the law affords an unconditional answer to permissibility of the tax. We agree.
Brendale addressed a challenge to the Yakima Nation's assertion of authority to zone reservation fee land owned by non-Indians. The concept of "protectible interest" to which Justice WHITE's opinion in the case referred, see 492 U.S., at 431, 109 S.Ct., at 3008 (opinion of WHITE, J.) , grew out of a long line of cases exploring the very narrow powers reserved to tribes over the conduct of non-Indians within their reservations. ”

“ We think the excise tax on sales of fee land is another matter, as did the Court of Appeals. While the Burke Act proviso does not purport to describe the entire range of in rem jurisdiction States may exercise with respect to fee-patented reservation land, we think it does describe the entire range of jurisdiction to tax. ”

“ See Wash.Rev.Code § 84.60.020 (1989) ("The taxes assessed upon real property . . . shall be a lien thereon from and including the first day of January in the year in which they are levied until the same are paid. . . .") ”

“ Maryland, 17 U.S. (4 Wheat.) 316, 431, 4 L.Ed. 579 (1819) , has counseled a more categorical approach: " [A] bsent cession of jurisdiction or other federal statutes permitting it," we have held, a State is without power to tax reservation lands and reservations Indians. Mescalero Apache Tribe v. Jones, 411 U.S. 145, 148, 93 S.Ct. 1267, 1270, 36 L.Ed.2d 114 (1973) . And our cases reveal a consistent practice of declining to find that Congress has authorized state taxation unless it has "made its intention to do so unmistakably clear." Montana v. Blackfeet Tribe, 471 U.S. 759, 765, 105 S.Ct. ”