Wednesday, February 27, 2002
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal 

Indian leaders told to ask Congress

By STEVE TETREAULT 
STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU 

WASHINGTON -- Supreme Court justice Stephen Breyer told American Indian leaders on Tuesday they may be better off asking Congress to solve questions of tribal sovereignty before taking their chances before the nation's highest court. 

Breyer said cases involving Indian rights raise "a very complex set of issues" and that justices might appreciate input from lawmakers. 

"If you can figure out an approach, or legislation, and if Congress begins to act, then when cases come to us we can approach them with the informed opinion of Congress," Breyer told a conference of the National Congress of American Indians. 

"I can't say it makes a difference in every case, but in most cases it makes a huge difference," he said. 

Breyer's advice comes as tribal leaders are re-evaluating legal strategy after losing two high-profile Supreme Court cases in 2001. 

One of them was Nevada v. Hicks, which held 9-0 that the Fallon Paiute Shoshone court did not have jurisdiction to hear a case brought by a tribal member against state game wardens. 

The other, also a unanimous decision, was Atkinson Trading Co., v. Shirley in which the court ruled the Navajo Nation could not force a non-Indian hotel within the Navajo reservation to collect a tribal occupancy tax. 

Both decisions impair tribal autonomy, Indian leaders say. 

"It's been difficult to win cases there recently," John Echohawk, an attorney with the Native American Rights Fund, said. 

Attorneys with the Native American Rights Fund are drafting legislation, nicknamed the "Hicks Fix," that they hope to get introduced in Congress in 2003. 

The bill aims to restore tribal powers lost through the 2001 Supreme Court decisions and others in recent years, Echohawk said.