ICWA ruling expected to spur tribal-state cooperation in Alaska
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Filed Under:
Law
A ruling from the
Alaska Supreme Court should lead to more cooperation between tribes and the state on
Indian
Child Welfare Act matters, an attorney for the
Native American Rights Fund said.
The court ruled that nothing in ICWA prevents tribes in Alaska from initiating child custody proceedings. The court also said there is no reason why tribal court rulings shouldn't be entitled to full faith and credit in state courts.
Heather Kendall-Miller of NARF said the ruling corrects a disagreement that surfaced in 2004 when the state attorney general issued an opinion that claimed "exclusive jurisdiction" in ICWA matters involving Alaska Native children. Now tribes and the state can work together, she said.
“It was something that needed to be addressed," Kendall-Miller told The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.
The state could ask the the
U.S. Supreme Court to review the decision.
But last year, the high court refused to hear a similar ICWA dispute that originated in federal court.
Get the Story:
Tribes win adoption court case
(The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner 3/8)
Alaska Supreme Court Decision:
Alaska v. Native
Village of Tanana (March 4, 2011)
9th Circuit Decision:
Kaltag
Tribal Council v. Jackson (August 28, 2009)
Related Stories:
Alaska Supreme Court supports Native villages in
ICWA matters (3/7)
APRN: Supreme Court
won't hear Alaska tribal adoption case (10/5)
No new Indian law cases in Supreme Court's latest
docket sheet (9/28)
Turtle Talk: Supreme
Court faces busy term with Indian law cases (9/27)
Obama administration supports tribe in ICWA case
from Alaska (9/22)
Supreme Court asks
for DOJ views on Alaska ICWA case (4/26)
Alaska Native ICWA case considered a petition to
watch (4/20)
Alaska presses Supreme
Court in tribal adoption case (3/11)
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