## Facts

- In 1943, the federal government created a reservation for the Neets’aii Gwich’in Indians around Venetie in Alaska.
- In 1971, Congress enacted the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA), which revoked the Venetie Reservation and transferred large amounts of land to Alaska Native corporations in fee simple, without federal restrictions on later transfers.
- The former reservation land was conveyed in fee to Native corporations and later transferred to the Native Village of Venetie Tribal Government.
- In 1986, Alaska contracted with a joint venture to build a public school in Venetie.
- The Tribe sought to impose a business-activity tax (about $161,000) on the non-Indian contractor for work performed on the Tribe’s ANCSA fee lands.
- Alaska sued in federal court to enjoin collection of the tax.

## Issues

1. Whether ANCSA fee lands owned by the Native Village of Venetie Tribal Government constitute “Indian country” as a “dependent Indian community” under 18 U.S.C. § 1151(b).
2. If the lands are not “Indian country,” whether the Tribe lacks authority to impose a business-activity tax on a nonmember contractor operating there.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court unanimously reversed the Ninth Circuit.
- The Court held that the Tribe’s ANCSA fee lands were not “Indian country” because they were not a “dependent Indian community” under 18 U.S.C. § 1151(b).
- Because the lands were not “Indian country,” the Tribe lacked authority to tax the nonmember state contractor for business activity on those lands.

## Legal Principles

- “Dependent Indian communities” under 18 U.S.C. § 1151(b) are a limited category of Indian lands that are neither reservations nor allotments.
- To qualify as a “dependent Indian community,” land must satisfy two requirements:
  - Federal “set-aside”: the land must be set aside by the federal government for the use of Indians as Indian land.
  - Federal “superintendence”: the land must be subject to federal oversight sufficient to show dependence on the federal government.
- ANCSA’s revocation of the Venetie Reservation and transfer of land in unrestricted fee simple did not create a federal set-aside for Indian use.
- ANCSA reflected congressional intent to end ongoing federal supervision over Alaska Native lands conveyed under the statute; absent meaningful federal oversight, ANCSA fee lands are not under federal superintendence.
- Post-ANCSA, Alaska lands qualify as “Indian country” only if they fit within § 1151’s categories (reservations, dependent Indian communities meeting both prongs, or allotments).

## Conclusion

The Court held that ANCSA fee lands owned by the Native Village of Venetie Tribal Government were not “Indian country” because they were neither federally set aside for Indian use nor under federal superintendence; therefore, the Tribe could not impose its business-activity tax on a nonmember contractor working there.


Alaska v. Native Village of Venetie Tribal Gov't, 522 U.S. 520 (1998)