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Cite as:  596 U. S. ____ (2022) 

1 

Opinion of the Court 

NOTICE:  This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the 
preliminary  print  of  the  United  States  Reports.  Readers  are  requested  to 
notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of the United States, Wash-
ington, D. C. 20543, of any typographical or other formal errors, in order that 
corrections may be made before the preliminary print goes to press. 

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 

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No. 20–493 
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YSLETA DEL SUR PUEBLO, ET AL., PETITIONERS v. 
TEXAS 

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF 
APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT 

[June 15, 2022] 

JUSTICE GORSUCH delivered the opinion of the Court. 
Native American Tribes possess “inherent sovereign au-
thority over their members and territories.”  Oklahoma Tax 
Comm’n  v.  Citizen  Band  Potawatomi  Tribe  of  Okla.,  498 
U. S. 505, 509 (1991).  Under our Constitution, treaties, and 
laws, Congress too bears vital responsibilities in the field of 
tribal affairs.  See, e.g., United States v. Lara, 541 U. S. 193, 
200 (2004).  From time to time, Congress has exercised its
authority to allow state law to apply on tribal lands where 
it  otherwise  would  not.    See  Santa  Clara  Pueblo  v.  Mar-
tinez, 436 U. S. 49, 60 (1978); Bryan v. Itasca County, 426 
U. S.  373,  392  (1976);  Rice  v.  Olson,  324  U. S.  786,  789 
(1945).  In  this  case,  Texas  contends  that  Congress  ex-
pressly  ordained  that  all  of  its  gaming  laws  should  be 
treated as surrogate federal law enforceable on the Ysleta
del Sur Pueblo Reservation.  In the end, however, we find 
no evidence Congress endowed state law with anything like
the power Texas claims.