Gilham

This ease raises the question of whether the State of Montana may be subject to an unconsented tort action filed by an individual plaintiff in Blackfeet Tribal Court. We hold that Montana’s sovereign immunity bars such an action.

I

Our consideration , of these questions of dominion and authority has its genesis in a personal tragedy. On January 14, 1986, Christine Gilham was fatally injured when the car in which she was a passenger struck a permanently anchored highway sign at the intersection of U.S. Highways 2 and 89 within, the external boundaries of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, located in the State of Montana. Toni Gilham (“Gilham”), Christine’s mother, brought an action against the driver of the car, who was intoxicated at the time of the accident, and the State of Montana (“Montana”) in the Blackfeet Tribal Court. She alleged that Montana was negligent in its design, construction, and maintenance of the intersection.

Montana filed a motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction, arguing that as a sovereign, it is immune from suit in the Blackfeet Tribal Court absent a waiver of its sovereign immunity. The tribal court denied the motion, and the case proceeded to trial.…