Most tribal court cases are about protecting children, about child custody, about adoption, or about inheritance. In at least one village there have been tribal court cases about who should control clan property. In at least one other village there have been tribal court cases about banishing a tribal member from the village. Each tribe is a separate government, so each tribe decides whether to have a tribal court and, if so, what kinds of cases to take.

If a case is between two non-members of the tribe, it probably should not be in tribal court. If a tribe charges you with a crime, you should talk with a lawyer who knows "Indian law" about whether Alaskan tribes can charge people with crimes. (For example, it may depend on whether the alleged crime took place on tribal land or on BIA-restricted property.)

If the tribe is willing to consider the case, and the mother agrees that the case can be heard in tribal court, then everything should be OK. If the mother objects to having the case heard in tribal court, there is a complicated legal problem. Our best guess is that the tribe CAN hear the case if, but only if, the children are members of the tribe or eligible for membership.

If the children are members of one tribe but not of the other tribe, it?s easy: the children?s tribe is the tribe that should be handling the case. If the children are members of both tribes, or if they are eligible for membership in both tribes, you should ask the tribal courts to talk with each other to see who should decide the case, or perhaps ask them to decide the case by acting jointly.

Talk with the tribal court clerk, or, if there is no tribal court clerk, the tribal official who handles tribal court cases.

Usually, you will get a notice from the tribal court (often called a summons), telling you that a case has been filed and what you have to do to respond. The tribal court clerk should also be able to tell you if a case has been filed.

If you would rather have the case in state court than in tribal court, you should ask the tribal court to dismiss its case. If you would rather have the case in tribal court than in state court, you could ask the state court to transfer its case to the tribal court.

Some tribal courts have written rules, and other tribal courts don?t. The tribal court clerk can tell you whether there are written rules and arrange for you to get copies.

Copies of laws and ordinances should be available at the tribal office. If you are looking for a copy of a tribe?s Constitution, this should be available from the tribe, and a copy should also be on file at the BIA.

The tribal court judges are usually people in the community asked by the tribe to serve as judges. Sometimes a tribe will ask someone from outside the village to serve as a judge, particularly if everyone in the village is involved in a case and people might be worried that judges from the village could not be fair. You can find out from the tribal court clerk who the judges will be in your case. If you think that one or more of the judges could not be fair in your case, you should make a request in writing asking that person not to serve as a judge in your case.

No. However, if the tribe is itself one of the parties to a case, there could be an argument that it would not be fair for Council members to serve as judges in the case.

Not unless the tribal court rules say that you do.

Probably, although it depends on the tribal court and on the kind of case. Some tribes would like people to speak for themselves at hearings and not speak through lawyers, although a lawyer can help someone prepare for a hearing. Some tribes will not allow lawyers to represent people at a hearing unless the lawyer is a member of the "Bar" of the tribal court. The lawyer can find out from the tribal court clerk how to become a member of the Bar. If you think a tribe is wrong in insisting that you speak for yourself and not through a lawyer, you should talk with a lawyer about whether you might have a Constitutional right to have a lawyer represent you.

It depends on the tribe, and it depends on what kind of hearing it is. In state court, for example, hearings about protecting children are private, but hearings about child custody between parents are public.

Probably - it depends on the tribal court and the kind of case - but the witness?s testimony needs to be relevant to the case. If it is not, the tribal court can decide not to listen to it.

It depends on the tribal court and the kind of case. If you are worried that a witness will not come to court unless there is a subpoena, you should fill out a subpoena for the court clerk?s signature and see what happens.

Probably not, unless the tribal court rules provide for one. Most of the kinds of cases tribal courts handle - child protective cases, custody cases, adoption cases, inheritance cases - are cases which would not have jury trials if they were in state court.

Not necessarily, unless the tribal court rules say so; if they do, there should be a tape recording. If you would like to have a tape recording for yourself, it should generally be possible to bring your own tape recorder to the hearing or make arrangements with the tribal court clerk to get a copy of the tribal court?s recording.

If the tribal court is going to direct people to do something, its instructions are usually in writing. Sometimes the judges explain things orally to the parties

Many tribal courts have rules about where an appeal should go - to a separate appeals court, for example, or from the tribal court to the tribal Council. Some tribes do not have rules showing how to appeal. There is a legal argument that tribes have to allow for an appeal - somewhere and somehow - but it is not 100% clear that this is true.

The Alaska Supreme Court says NO - provided that the case is a case that belongs in tribal court and the tribal court proceedings were fair.

Probably not. There may be an argument in a case involving children that a tribal court?s custody order is putting the child in tribal custody, so that you could try to get into federal court through "habeas corpus." There may also be an argument, if a tribe has banished you from the village, that this is close enough to a criminal case that you should be able to get into federal court, also through "habeas corpus."

Tanana Chiefs Conference has published a very good Manual for Tribal Courts that explains what some tribal courts do - mostly in the Interior.