Top Stories
First Time Look Inside A Tribal Court
May 13, 2013 posted by Steve Brownstein
The Hoopa Valley Tribal Court is a model for other tribes in the region, as they develop their own laws and court systems.
Chief Judge Richard Blake said, “The Hoopa Valley Tribe has the most developed tribal court system in California and it’s been really beneficial for our tribal members.”
For tribal members, Hoopa’s court is usually simpler, quicker, and costs a lot less than traveling to the courthouse in Eureka to handle things like marriages or divorces.
Associate Judge Michelle Krieger said, “It’s only a $25 filing fee and as soon as the judge orders the marriage dissolved then it’s done.”
In California’s Superior Court for Humboldt County in Eureka, things like divorces are handled a lot differently than they are under tribal law.
Attorney Judith Edson, who has specialized in family law in Humboldt County since the mid-80s, said, “The state legislature set up a law that says you can’t be divorced until six months after you’ve filed the paperwork.”
“Also, I think it’s really important to have a lawyer involved in the process, to make sure people have a factual understanding of what the laws are,” Edson said.
Hoopa’s domestic relations code is just fifty pages long compared to over 1,000 pages for California’s family code, and the judges have time to look over and explain everything to each person.
“In our court system, can’t think of one case where the parties had an attorney on a divorce case,” Blake said. “We’re able to go over the information with the parties without anyone else being in the courtroom.”
Krieger said, “Out on the coast, they do a cattle call with sixty couples waiting to get heard all on the same day.”
The Tribal Court, which serves a less-populated area, can take the time to serve the needs of the Hoopa Valley’s residents.
Krieger said, “We offer mediation, instead of going to trial right away, for people who can’t figure out child custody or how to divide the property.”
The Tribal Court can also use local traditions and practices when setting up spousal or child support payments.
Blake said, “What we can do is consider things like fish, deer meat, or firewood instead of cash.”
Frank Horne was divorced through the Tribal Court last year.
“They treated me really well and everything went smoothly,” Horne said. “I thought it went quite quickly compared to stories I’d heard from people who went to other places.”
There were a few minor problems with the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) when the Tribal Court first started issuing divorce decrees in 2006, but things generally go smoothly now.
Krieger said, “We were the first Tribal Court in Northern California to issue divorce decrees, and at first the DMV wasn’t sure what to do with them.”
Blake said, “They worked that out internally at the DMV, and there hasn’t been a problem since.”
The courts in each state recognize marriages and divorces done in tribal courts the same way they recognize marriages from other states, because the tribes are sovereign entities.
Edson said, “Through the treaties and as a matter of law they’d be required to respect the Tribal Court’s decisions.”
Blake said, “The Chief Justice of the state of California, Tani Cantil-Sakauye, strongly supports tribal courts and we have a wonderful working relationship with the Humboldt County superior Court bench.”
Regionally, the Smith River Rancheria and the Karuk Tribe have tribal courts that issue marriage licenses and divorce decrees, while other tribes are tackling other issues first.
Krieger said, “Each tribe sets their own priorities, and tailors their codes to address them. Trinidad, for example, just has an animal ordinance so far.”
Hoopa’s Tribal Court system also has an animal ordinance, along with a domestic relations code and criminal and other laws.
It also has a bar exam: a test for lawyers before they can practice law in an area. Several attorneys have taken and passed it and can now help clients in cases in the Tribal Court.
Two major trials are set to come in front of the Tribal Court in May. An appellate hearing on the exclusion of Arthur “Artie” Jones from the reservation is scheduled for Friday, May 10, and there will be a hearing about farm animals roaming near Bald Hill on Wednesday, May 15.
Blake and Krieger said they were both bothered by a false rumor about the Tribe’s court system.
“Somebody said, ‘my cousin told me that Tribal Court divorces aren’t valid,’” Blake said. “I let him know that wasn’t true.”
Horne’s father is a minister and performed the ceremony for him when he remarried through the Tribal Court in January. He said he’d heard the rumors too.
“I heard it through the grapevine – but going through the grapevine, people don’t always have a full understanding,” Horne said.
Krieger said, “They were saying that you needed to register the divorce decree with the state court as a foreign judgment. That’s not true.”
Blake said, “People should know that this system is here, it was developed for them, and it’s real.”
