Opinion ID: 516242
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Tribal Court has Jurisdiction

Text: 5 The precise issue confronting this court is whether the tribal court has jurisdiction over a non-Indian defendant in a divorce and custody proceeding involving a couple and their children all of whom resided on the reservation during the marriage. This is an issue of first impression in this circuit. We have found no authority in other circuits addressing the issue. 6 Tribal authority is inherent in the tribes' retained sovereignty; it does not arise by delegation from the federal government. United States v. Wheeler, 435 U.S. 313, 328, 98 S.Ct. 1079, 1088-1089, 55 L.Ed.2d 303 (1978). In civil cases arising between Indians, or against an Indian defendant in an action arising in Indian country, tribal jurisdiction usually will be exclusive. Fisher v. District Court, 424 U.S. 382, 96 S.Ct. 943, 47 L.Ed.2d 106 (1976); Williams v. Lee, 358 U.S. 217, 223, 79 S.Ct. 269, 272, 3 L.Ed.2d 251 (1959). The precise scope of a Tribal court's jurisdiction over non-Indian defendants is less clear. The Supreme Court has stated: 7 To be sure, Indian tribes retain inherent sovereign power to exercise some forms of civil jurisdiction over non-Indians on their reservations, even on non-Indian fee lands. A tribe may regulate, through taxation, licensing, or other means, the activities of nonmembers who enter consensual relationships with the tribe or its members, through commercial dealings, contracts, leases, or other arrangements. 8 Montana v. United States, 450 U.S. 544, 565, 101 S.Ct. 1245, 1258, 67 L.Ed.2d 493 (1981) (emphasis added). Civil jurisdiction over such [non-Indian] activities [on reservation lands] presumptively lies in the tribal courts unless affirmatively limited by a specific treaty provision or federal statute. Iowa Mutual Ins. Co. v. La Plante, 480 U.S. 9, 18, 107 S.Ct. 971, 978, 94 L.Ed.2d 10 (1987) (tribal court should be given the opportunity to determine its own jurisdiction before recourse to federal court). Tribal courts have consistently been recognized as appropriate forums for the adjudication of disputes affecting important personal and property interests of Indians and non-Indians. Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez, 436 U.S. 49, 65, 98 S.Ct. 1670, 1680-1681, 56 L.Ed.2d 106 (1978). 9 Two leading treatises on Indian law have assumed that tribal courts would have at least concurrent jurisdiction in divorce cases involving an Indian plaintiff and non-Indian defendant, where the non-Indian defendant resided on the reservation during the marriage. W. Canby, American Indian Law 146 (1981) (referring specifically to divorce jurisdiction); F. Cohen, Handbook of Federal Indian Law 342 (1982 ed.) (civil jurisdiction generally). 10 We can continue our analysis by assuming that there must be at least one court with jurisdiction to hear Lonebear's divorce action. Federal courts traditionally refuse jurisdiction over marriages and divorces. Barber v. Barber, 62 U.S. (21 How.) 582, 16 L.Ed. 226 (1858). Jurisdiction must therefore lie in state or tribal court, or in both concurrently. We do not reach the question of whether tribal jurisdiction is exclusive. It will suffice for purposes of this disposition for us to hold that the tribal court can at least exercise concurrent jurisdiction. 11
12 A frequent bar to tribal court jurisdiction over non-Indian defendants has its source not in federal or state law, but in the tribal codes themselves. Many tribal codes provide for civil jurisdiction over defendants only when they are Indian. The Northern Cheyenne Constitution gives the Tribal Council power to regulate the domestic relations of members of the Tribe and of non-members married into the Tribe. Art. III, Sec. 1(p). Chapter II, Sec. 1 of the Northern Cheyenne Law & Order Code authorizes jurisdiction over defendants who are subject to the jurisdiction of the tribal court. The Northern Cheyenne Appellate Court has held (in this same case) that these provisions permit tribal court jurisdiction over a non-Indian married to an enrolled member of the tribe. That court's interpretation of tribal law is binding on this court. Cf. Marriage of Limpy, 195 Mont. 314, 636 P.2d 266 (1981) (state court so bound). However, a federal court must still, under Sec. 1331, decide whether a tribal court has asserted its jurisdiction beyond lawful limits. National Farmers Union Ins. Cos., 471 U.S. at 853, 105 S.Ct. at 2452. 13
14 Although the Northern Cheyenne Law & Order Code, Ch. 3, Sec. 1, provides that Indian marriages and divorces must be consummated in accordance with Montana law, this is not a grant of jurisdiction to the state. The Montana Supreme Court has declined to accept jurisdiction on this basis. Marriage of Limpy, 195 Mont. 314, 636 P.2d 266 (1981). Nor does the fact that the couple was married off the reservation affect the result. Id. See also Fisher v. District Court, 424 U.S. 382, 390 n. 14, 96 S.Ct. 943, 948 n. 14, 47 L.Ed.2d 106 (1976) (per curiam) (In a proceeding such as an adoption, which determines the permanent status of litigants, it is appropriate to predicate jurisdiction on the residence of the litigants rather than the location of particular incidents of marginal relevance, at best.) (emphasis added). In effect, the tribal code simply incorporates Montana law as tribal law. Montana has not asserted jurisdiction over the Northern Cheyenne pursuant to 25 U.S.C. Sec. 1322 (states can exercise civil jurisdiction over tribes with tribal consent). 15 It does not appear that Montana has sought to exercise exclusive jurisdiction in cases such as this, 3 and thus this court has little to guide us in evaluating the state interests at stake. Where jurisdiction over non-Indians is sought, both the tribe and the state can claim an interest in asserting their respective jurisdictions. The state can protect its interest up to the point where tribal self-government would be affected. McClanahan v. Arizona State Tax Comm'n, 411 U.S. 164, 179, 93 S.Ct. 1257, 1266, 36 L.Ed.2d 129 (1973). 16 The Montana Supreme Court has held that the exercise of state jurisdiction over the domestic relations of reservation residents could be an interference with tribal self-government. Marriage of Limpy, 195 Mont. 314, 636 P.2d 266, 269 (1981). The expressed policy of that court is to defer jurisdiction to the tribal court when tribal law provides the rule of decision and the tribal court has sought jurisdiction. Id. 4