An appeal to the Supreme Court addressd the question whether federal law preempts a state (New Mexico) tax imposed on the gross receipts that a non-Indian construction company (Lembke Construction Company) receives from a tribal school board (Ramah Navajo School Board) for the construction of a school for Navajo children on the reservation. The New Mexico Court of Appeals held that the gross receipts tax imposed by the State of New Mexico was permissible based on White Mountain Apache Tribe v. Bracker (1980). The Supreme Court reaches a different conclusion because it finds that the tax imposes an economic burden on the tribe's effort to build a school with federal funds. The dissenting opinion argued that the Court accords an Indian tribe, whose sovereignty "exists only at the sufferance of Congress and is subject to complete defeasance," greater immunity from state taxes than is enjoyed by the sovereignty of the United States on whom it is dependent. (Author/ERB)