Waddell

We must decide whether a state is preempted from imposing a sales tax on entertainment events which take place on an Indian reservation.

I

Gila River Indian Community (“Tribe”) appeals the district court’s summary judgment on remand from this court in favor of Paul Waddell, as Director of the Department of Revenue of the State of Arizona. The Tribe seeks declaratory and injunctive relief from the imposition of a tax on the sale of tickets and concessionary items in connection with sporting and cultural activities held at the Tribe’s Firebird International Raceway Park and Compton Terrace concert amphitheater, located on the Gila River Indian Reservation (“Reservation”).

The Tribe comprises the confederated Pima and Maricopa Tribes of Indians and is organized under 25 U.S.C. § 476 , the Indian Reorganization Act. The Tribe’s Constitution and Bylaws have been approved by the Secretary of the Interior. The Reservation, established by Congress in 1859, borders the Phoenix metropolitan area in Arizona. The United States holds fee title to a majority of the land on the Reservation in trust for the Tribe.

In the early 1970s, the Tribe constructed Firebird Lake and Sun Valley Marina…