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12 

HAALAND v. BRACKEEN 

GORSUCH, J., concurring 

one  step  toward  upholding  tribal  rights,”  “many  [S]tates” 
have struggled with “effective implementation.”  Maine Wa-
banaki–State  Child  Welfare  Truth  &  Reconciliation  Com-
mission,  Beyond  the  Mandate:  Continuing  the  Conversa-
tion 12 (2015).  Others resist ICWA outright, as the present 
litigation by Texas attests.  See generally M. Fletcher & W. 
Singel, Lawyering the Indian Child Welfare Act, 120 Mich.
L. Rev. 1755 (2022).  Still, the statute “has achieved consid-
erable success in stemming unwarranted removals by state
officials of Indian children from their families and commu-
nities.”  B.  Atwood,  Flashpoints  Under  the  Indian  Child 
Welfare Act:  Toward a New Understanding of State Court
Resistance, 51 Emory L. J. 587, 621 (2002).  And consider-
able  research  “[s]ubsequent  to  Congress’s  enactment  of 
ICWA”  has  “borne  out  the  statute’s  basic  premise”—that 
“[i]t is generally in the best interests of Indian children to
be raised in Indian homes.”  Brief for American Psychologi-
cal Association et al. as Amici Curiae 10–24. 

II 
This history leads us to the question at the heart of to-
day’s cases:  Did Congress lack the constitutional authority 
to enact ICWA, as Texas and the private plaintiffs contend?
In truth, that is not one question, but many.  What author-
ities do the Tribes possess under our Constitution?  What 
power does Congress have with respect to tribal relations?
What does that mean for States?  And how do those princi-
ples apply in a context like adoption, which involves com-
peting claims of federal, state, and tribal authority?

Answering  these  questions  requires  a  full  view  of  the
Indian-law bargain struck in our Constitution.  Under the 
terms  of  that  bargain,  Indian  Tribes  remain  independent 
sovereigns with the exclusive power to manage their inter-
nal matters.  As a corollary of that sovereignty, States have
virtually no role to play when it comes to Indian affairs.  To 
preserve  this  equilibrium  between  Tribes  and  States,  the