"I have represented the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation for 15 years, and cannot remember an issue that has generated more controversy than the labor issues facing the tribe today. I have heard completely opposite views as to how the tribe should respond. In each case, the opposing views were offered with equal vigor and conviction, and each claimed the moral high ground. Those not familiar with federal Indian law and policy seem agitated, confused and unable to comprehend the basis of the controversy - tribal sovereignty.

In January, the controversy took center stage in a National Labor Relations Board hearing room in Hartford, Conn. The contentious hearing's focus was the tribe's objections to the way the election was conducted, but tribal sovereignty was ever-present throughout. This conflict is unnecessary since the union could have petitioned for representation under the Tribal Labor Relations Law, not its federal counterpart. That would have been the less contentious path.

In the Hartford proceedings, the board and the union said they ''respect'' tribal sovereignty. What their actions said was that while they respect tribal sovereignty in concept, they cannot tolerate the exercise of that sovereignty.

I couldn't help but contrast what I heard with the real words of presidential executive orders, congressional legislation and court decisions that support tribal self-determination and a commitment to deal with tribes on a ''government-to-government'' basis.

Those words are being ignored with devastating effects by the blind and blanket imposition of the National Labor Relations Act on Indian tribes and their gaming enterprises.

Some in Indian country have counseled against pursuing this challenge. They fear too much could be lost.

Yet there is no good choice for tribes. The imposition of the NLRA is unlike that of any other statute that is silent as to Indian tribes, because it inserts a third party into tribal employment without any acknowledgement of the profound impact that it has on tribal laws, institutions and structures. Does it mean that the tribe's labor relations law is void? How about the tribe's right to work law, the tribal employee review code, the tribal civil rights law or the tribal gaming law?"

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Betsy Conway: Sovereignty is more than just a word (Indian Country Today 2/29)