Opinion ID: 1662406
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: whether the circuit court lacked jurisdiction due to the indian child welfare act.

Text: Father next contends that the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA), 25 U.S.C. § 1901 et seq., prohibited the circuit court from exercising jurisdiction over this issue. We disagree. The ICWA applies only to child custody proceedings. As defined by the Act, a child custody proceeding may be either a foster care placement, termination of parental rights, preadoptive placement or adoptive placement. See 25 U.S.C. § 1903(1). Here, the placement of Danielle with either of her natural parents does not fit within the definition of a custody proceeding and thus does not implicate the ICWA. This is clarified in the guidelines published by the Bureau of Indian Affairs which provide that: Child custody disputes arising in the context of divorce or separation proceedings or other similar domestic relations proceedings are not covered by the Act so long as custody is awarded to one of the parents. See Guidelines for State Courts; Indian Child Custody Proceedings, 44 Fed.Reg. 67,584, 67,587 (1979). [5] Because the ICWA does not apply in this particular circumstance, we must resort to the traditional jurisdictional test set forth in Williams v. Lee, 358 U.S. 217, 79 S.Ct. 269, 3 L.Ed.2d 251 (1959). Under Williams, we must determine whether the exercise of state jurisdiction infringes upon the right of reservation Indians to make their own laws and be governed by them. Id. Further, we must be guided by the United States Supreme Court's admonition that tribal courts have been recognized as appropriate forums for the exclusive adjudication of disputes affecting important personal and property interests of both Indians and non-Indians. Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez, 436 U.S. 49, 98 S.Ct. 1670, 56 L.Ed.2d 106 (1978); see also National Farmers Union Ins. Co. v. Crow Tribe of Indians, 471 U.S. 845, 105 S.Ct. 2447, 85 L.Ed.2d 818 (1985); Iowa Mut. Ins. Co. v. LaPlante, 480 U.S. 9, 107 S.Ct. 971, 94 L.Ed.2d 10 (1987). We also recognize that tribal courts play a vital role in the area of custody of Indian children. See Matter of Guardianship of D.L.L. & C.L.L., 291 N.W.2d 278 (S.D.1980). However, absent the applicability of the ICWA, we do not believe that these principles may be extended so as to grant tribal courts the exclusive authority to adjudicate disputes which involve Indian children when neither the child nor the parents reside on the reservation. Thus, the circuit court did not abuse its discretion in exercising state jurisdiction over this issue.