Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma v. Manufacturing Technologies, Inc.
Supreme Court of the United States · 1998 · Federal Courts
Federal CourtsTribal Sovereign Immunitytribal sovereign immunityIndian tribescontractscommercial activityoff-reservation conductwaiver
Facts
The Kiowa Tribe, through a tribal entity, agreed to buy stock from Manufacturing Technologies, Inc. In connection with the transaction, the chairman of the Tribe's business committee signed a promissory note in the Tribe's name for $285,000 plus interest. The note stated that nothing in it subjected or limited the sovereign rights of the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma. After the Tribe defaulted, Manufacturing Technologies sued in state court, and the Tribe asserted sovereign immunity from suit.
Issue
Whether an Indian tribe is immune from suit in state court on a promissory note arising from allegedly off-reservation commercial conduct, absent congressional authorization or tribal waiver. More specifically, whether tribal sovereign immunity should be limited to on-reservation or governmental activities.
Rule
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. Tribal immunity applies to suits on contracts whether the contracts involve governmental or commercial activities and whether they were made on or off a reservation.
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10 practice questions + 4 AI-graded essays on this case
One of 10 multiple-choice questions for this case. Pick an answer to see why.
Red Mesa Builders, a business arm of the Prairie River Tribe, signed a supply contract with Northgate Steel, a fictional company based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for materials to be delivered to a warehouse in Wichita, Kansas. The contract was negotiated and signed entirely off tribal land, and it contains no clause consenting to suit. After the tribe stopped making payments, Northgate sued the tribe in Oklahoma state court.
How should the court rule on the tribe's motion to dismiss?
Explanation. As a matter of federal law, an Indian tribe is subject to suit only if Congress has authorized the suit or the tribe has waived immunity. The majority specifically refused to distinguish between governmental and commercial contracts or between on- and off-reservation transactions. So an off-reservation commercial contract action is barred absent abrogation or waiver. (Derived from Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma v. Manufacturing Technologies, Inc. (1998).)