Tribal Nation courts possess jurisdiction over family law matters involving Tribal citizens, including divorces. In 2008, Robert William Tix — a member of the Prairie Island Mdewakanton Dakota Indian Community — and Kristin Ann Tix (now known as McGowan) married and started a Tribal family. They had three Tribal citizen children together, and the family—including McGowan—lived primarily off Prairie Island Tribal resources.
In 2022, Tix and McGowan each filed for divorce. Tix filed in Prairie Island’s court, while McGowan filed in Minnesota state court. McGowan argued that the Tribal court lacked jurisdiction over her because she is not a Prairie Island member. Every court to consider her argument, however, rejected her argument. The Minnesota state court determined that the Tribal court had jurisdiction and was the more convenient forum to resolve the divorce. The Tribal trial court and the Tribal court of appeals agreed. And when McGowan brought a federal challenge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, the federal court also determined that the Prairie Island Tribal court possesses jurisdiction over the couple’s divorce. These courts applied a long line of precedent recognizing Tribal court jurisdiction over domestic affairs involving Tribal members — especially when, like here, the distribution of Tribal resources and the care and custody of Tribal member children are at stake.
Despite four consecutive losses, McGowan now asks the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit to upend well-settled law. Her arguments directly attack Tribal sovereignty and would carry significant consequences for Tribes and Native families in the Eighth Circuit. The Native American Rights Fund and co-counsel Messerli Kramer, PA, represent Tix in the Eighth Circuit as he defends Tribal jurisdiction. NARF has briefed the court on the well-established precedent affirming Tribal court jurisdiction in the family law context. Despite four consecutive losses, McGowan now asks the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit to upend well-settled law. Her arguments directly attack Tribal sovereignty and would carry significant consequences for Tribes and Native families in the Eighth Circuit. The Native American Rights Fund and co-counsel Messerli Kramer, PA, represent Tix in the Eighth Circuit as he defends Tribal jurisdiction. NARF has briefed the court on the well-established precedent affirming Tribal court jurisdiction in the family law context.
More Cases
