Page:Washington Department of Licensing v. Cougar Den, Inc..pdf/22

18 Nor do we here interpret the treaty as barring the State from collecting revenue through sales or use taxes (applied outside the reservation). Unlike the tax at issue here, which applies explicitly to transport by “railcar, trailer, truck, or other equipment suitable for ground transportation,” see supra, at 6, a sales or use tax normally applies irrespective of transport or its means. Here, however, we deal with a tax applicable simply to importation by ground transportation. Moreover, it is a tax designed to secure revenue that, as far as the record shows here, the State might obtain in other ways.

To summarize, our holding rests upon three propositions: First, a state law that burdens a treaty-protected right is pre-empted by the treaty. See supra, at 14–18. Second, the treaty protects the Yakamas’ right to travel on the public highway with goods for sale. See supra, at 10–14. Third, the Washington statute at issue here taxes the Yakamas for traveling with fuel by public highway. See supra, at 4–10. For these three reasons, Washington’s fuel tax cannot lawfully be assessed against Cougar Den on the facts here. Therefore, the judgment of the Supreme Court of Washington is affirmed. It is so ordered.