Montana et al. v. Blackfeet Tribe of Indians

Decided June 3, 1985. Lewis Franklin Powell Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 83-2161 · 471 U.S. 759 (1985) · Cited 491 times

Holding

Montana may not tax respondent's royalty interests from leases issued pursuant to the 1938 Act.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 6–3.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Moe v. Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation · 425 U.S. 463 (1976)
• Choate v. Trapp · 224 U.S. 665 (1912)
• The Kansas Indians · 72 U.S. 737 (1867)
• Morton v. Mancari · 417 U.S. 535 (1974)
• Oneida Indian Nation v. County of Oneida · 414 U.S. 661 (1974)
• McClanahan v. Arizona State Tax Commission · 411 U.S. 164 (1973)
• United States v. Borden Co. · 308 U.S. 188 (1939)
• Mescalero Apache Tribe v. Jones · 411 U.S. 145 (1973)
• Bryan v. Itasca County · 426 U.S. 373 (1976)
• Countyof Oneida v. Oneida Indian Nation of NY · 470 U.S. 226 (1985)
• Carpenter v. Shaw · 280 U.S. 363 (1930)
• Rice v. Rehner · 463 U.S. 713 (1983)
• Hess v. Reynolds · 113 U.S. 73 (1885)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Cotton Petroleum Corp. v. New Mexico · 490 U.S. 163 (1989)
• Chickasaw Nation v. United States · 534 U.S. 84 (2001)
• Hagen v. Utah · 510 U.S. 399 (1994)
• California v. Cabazon Band of Mission Indians · 480 U.S. 202 (1987)
• County of Yakima v. Confederated Tribes & Bands of the Yakima Indian Nation · 502 U.S. 251 (1992)
• City of Sherrill v. Oneida Indian Nation of NY · 544 U.S. 197 (2005)
• Oklahoma Tax Commission v. Chickasaw Nation · 515 U.S. 450 (1995)
• Carcieri v. Salazar · 555 U.S. 379 (2009)
• Mountain States Telephone & Telegraph Co. v. Pueblo of Santa Ana · 472 U.S. 237 (1985)
• United States v. Navajo Nation · 537 U.S. 488 (2003)
• South Dakota v. Bourland · 508 U.S. 679 (1993)
• Ysleta del Sur Pueblo v. Texas · 596 U.S. 685 (2022)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1985). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).