Opinion ID: 891574
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Applicability to Tribes

Text: {15} Before applying the UCCJEA to the facts of the present case, we note an anomaly in the way the statute applies in our state. Specific language in the UCCJEA commands courts of this state to treat a tribe as if it were a state of the United States for purposes of the statute's jurisdiction provisions. Section 40-10A-104(b). In other words, New Mexico district courts are bound to honor the decisions of tribal courts for continuing jurisdiction purposes, provided that the requirements of the UCCJEA have been met. This legislation, however, has no power to similarly bind the tribal courts, because unless the tribes have passed legislation similar to the UCCJEA, they are not subject to its commands. As for the similar PKPA, a federal statute, tribal courts in theory could be bound by its provisions and, therefore, be required to give full faith and credit to state-court judgments, because of Congress's plenary power over the tribes. As we will explain below, however, the PKPA by its terms does not apply to tribes. For reasons set forth in detail below, we conclude that under the UCCJEA, the State has proper jurisdiction, but that jurisdiction is not exclusive of the tribe. But see Gerber v. Eastman, 673 N.W.2d 854, 858 (Minn.Ct.App. 2004) (assuming that Minnesota state-court jurisdiction under that state's UCCJEA precludes tribal jurisdiction, without discussing whether the Chippewa tribe had passed similar legislation).