The Oklahoma Bar Journal April 2024

Oklahoma tribal court reports going back to 1978, which includes Oklahoma tribal court case law.

JURISDICTION

“Indian tribes are ‘domestic dependent nations’ that exercise inherent sovereign authority over their members and territories.” – Oklahoma Tax Commission v. Potawatomi Tribe 58

“Tonto, you may yet have your revenge.” – Rennard Strickland 59

The Oklahoma Constitution provides that “the [State] District Court shall have unlimited orig inal jurisdiction of all justiciable matters.” 60 While this statement of law is correct, the Oklahoma Constitution has traditionally had no applicability to tribal members residing within “Indian Country.” 61 Because tribal court jurisdiction is a federal question, it is the federal courts that have the authority to determine whether a tribal court has jurisdiction in a particular case. 62 Generally, states do not possess jurisdiction, and state law will not have effect in “Indian Country” (the federal codified term) except through a specific grant of jurisdiction under federal law. 63 The jurisdictional framework is a complex flowchart of tribal law, federal law and state law, which becomes more compli cated in cases involving non-tribal individuals on tribal land. Practitioners should note that tribal courts have jurisdiction over both civil and criminal cases that involve tribal members, even those who are members of other tribes, 64 that occur within tribal lands and, in certain circumstances, over non-Natives who have signifi cant contacts with the tribe. 65 In

The bench at the Seminole Nation Tribal Court in Wewoka. Photo courtesy of the author.

website. 47 Naturally, it would be advisable to always contact the tribal court clerk to ensure the lat est codes are online. A practitioner should review not only tribal codes but the tribe’s constitution, ordinances, legislative research 48 and “tribal resolutions” (as well as any local rules) before filing any thing. Many tribal courts will also maintain physical fill-in-the-blank forms for pro se filers in matters of divorce, custody, guardianship or even protective orders. In addition to each of the tribes’ websites, other organizations – such as Oklahoma Indian Legal Services, 49 Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma, 50 the National Indian Law Library of the Native American Rights Fund, 51 the Donald E. Pray Law Library at the OU College of Law 52 and the Chickasaw Nation Law Library at the OCU School of Law 53 – maintain access to tribal codes and laws on their websites.

Locating tribal court decisions, even those that may be preceden tial, might be difficult. Some tribal courts, such as the supreme courts for the Muscogee (Creek) Nation 54 and the Cherokee Nation, 55 keep many opinions and orders on their court website. While the online legal research database Lexis, 56 at the time of this writing, offers tribal court opinions for only one Oklahoma tribe, the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, it does offer other opinions from the Crow Tribe, the Eastern Band of Cherokee and the Navajo that may be used for per suasion. Legal publisher Thomson Reuters offers West’s American Tribal Law Reporter (National Reporter System) in both hard bound volumes and through the Westlaw Precision research data base (which also offers opinions from the Cherokee Nation and the Sac and Fox Nation). 57 Notably, the Westlaw Precision database offers

Statements or opinions expressed in the Oklahoma Bar Journal are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Oklahoma Bar Association, its officers, Board of Governors, Board of Editors or staff.

10 | APRIL 2024

THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL