Opinion ID: 167828
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Sovereign Immunity for the Pueblo

Text: 64 As a matter of federal law, an Indian tribe is subject to suit only where Congress has authorized the suit or the tribe has waived its immunity. Kiowa Tribe of Okla. v. Mfg. Techs., Inc., 523 U.S. 751, 754, 118 S.Ct. 1700, 140 L.Ed.2d 981 (1998). Congress's intent to abrogate a tribe's immunity must be unequivocally expressed, while a tribe's waiver of its immunity must be clear. C & L Enters., Inc., 532 U.S. at 418, 121 S.Ct. 1589. 65 Again, the only argument that the Burrells raise to challenge the Pueblo's sovereign immunity is that the provisions of the BIA lease required arbitration of their damage claims before the Secretary of the Interior. 11 Having already determined that this argument is without merit, we conclude that the Pueblo is entitled to sovereign immunity. 66