I don't Get It, I Thought We Won the Indian Wars

Why do we continue to have Indian reservations of tribes that are arbitrarily determined by federal authorities and given sovreignty as little countries within the United States?

Mothers around the state are finding it almost impossible to collect child support from some Native American fathers because tribal governments and businesses are shielding them from court-ordered payments, records and interviews show. 

The number of tribes or tribal companies that do not honor state child support orders -- by garnishing the income or bank accounts of delinquent parents -- is difficult to determine. The California Department of Child Support Services does not systematically track which businesses, tribal or otherwise, honor support orders. 

But Richard Blake, chief judge of the Hoopa Valley Tribe, acknowledged that the majority of tribal governments in the state do not have formal programs for child support enforcement. Blake said only about 20 of 103 federally recognized California tribes have official child support enforcement systems in place.

The problem is a lack of reciprocal jurisdiction.  A child support order made in, say, Minnesota, would be enforceable in Arizona under the Fair Faith and Credit Clause of the US Constitution.  In our republic, an order by one state is valid in a sister state.

Except orders made within the jurisdiction of a state - and most family law matters are determined within the jurisdiction of a county using state law - is not enforceable in a federal court.  And the federal system has allowed Indian tribes, under the aegis of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, to set up their own courts.  Indeed, one of the things that discouraged me from relocating to New Mexico is that most family law cases are heard in Navajo court.

Now, for a person to go strolling in to court, that person needs what is called legal standing.  And non-Indians do not have standing in tribal courts.  So these mothers - and, it could be a father, too, if the mother is a member of a tribe - are left in limbo, unable to enforce state child support orders, unable to gain entrance to Indian courts.

Julia Lotta, the Jamul Indian Village secretary and treasurer, said the tribe has just 34 adult members and the tribal council has never been formally contacted to help settle a child support dispute. She said the council would consider enforcing a state child support order but couldn't predict the outcome. 

"The tribe cannot tell an individual what to do with his money," Lotta said.

If this outrages you, never spend another dime in an Indian casino unless they are willing to allow wage garnishments or subpoenas for the protection of children.