States were afraid that Natives would have a significant competitive advantage over other gambling establishments in the state which was regulated, which would thus generate a vast amount of income for tribes. The Natives argued for sovereignty over their reservations to make them immune from state laws such as Public Law 280, which granted states to have criminal jurisdiction over Native reservations. Georgia.Ĭontroversy arose when Natives began putting private casinos, bingo rooms, and lotteries on reservation lands and began setting gaming prizes which were above the maximum legal limit of the state. A District Court ruled in favor of the Natives, citing Chief Justice John Marshall in Worcester v. Butterworth), stating that Native tribes have sovereignty rights that are protected by the federal government from interference by state government.

The sheriff of Broward County, where the Native reservation lies, made arrests the minute the bingo hall opened, and the tribe sued the county ( Seminole Tribe v. The law was enacted from the charity bingo limits set by Catholic Churches. The tribe planned for the bingo hall to be open six days a week, contrary to Florida state law which only allows two days a week for bingo halls to be open, as well as going over the maximum limit of $100 jackpots. Under the leadership of Howard Tommie, the Seminole Tribe of Florida built a large high-stakes bingo building on their reservation near Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Within a few years, enterprising Natives and tribes began to operate Indian bingo operations in numerous different locations around the United States. The Supreme Court granted review, and in a sweeping and unanimous decision authored by Justice Brennan, the Supreme Court held not only that states do not have authority to tax Natives on their reservations, but that they also lack the authority to regulate Native activities on their reservations. They then sought review at the Supreme Court of the United States. The Bryans lost their case in the state district court, and they lost again on appeal in a unanimous decision by the Minnesota Supreme Court. Unwilling to pay it, they took the tax notice to local legal aid attorneys at Leech Lake Legal Services, who brought suit to challenge the tax in the state courts.

The Bryans had never received a property tax bill from the county before. In the early 1970s, Russell and Helen Bryan, a married Chippewa couple living in a mobile home on Indian lands in northern Minnesota, received a property tax bill from the local county, Itasca County. Further information: Tribal sovereignty in the United States

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