Tribal governments do NOT own children as their property – and do NOT have legal jurisdiction over individuals and families who do NOT have a commercial contract with the tribal government.
Tix v Tix, 8th Circuit Court, No. 24-3487, December 12, 2025
Select portions:
“Tix supplies no authority for the proposition that the Community’s interest in the care of the parties’ children necessitated such invasive exercises of authority over their nonmember mother outside the reservation. We find such a need to be particularly implausible given the children have neither lived on Community lands nor been regular participants in tribal life. We also cannot square the purported necessity of tribal divorce adjudication in these circumstances with the conception of tribal
sovereignty adopted by Congress in the Indian Child Welfare Act, which exempts divorces from its general mandate of tribal participation in matters involving the custody and care of Indian children. See 25 U.S.C. §§ 1903(1), 1911(b).”
“Therefore, Tix has not met our requirements for establishing the Tribal Court’s jurisdiction over his divorce petition under the consensual relationship exception.”
“…Tix fails to meet his burden of establishing that one of the Montana exceptions permitted tribal jurisdiction, the Tribal Court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over the parties’ divorce.”
III. CONCLUSION
“Accordingly, we reverse the district court’s grant of summary judgment to Tix and dismissal of McGowan’s complaint. We remand to the district court with instructions to enter an order stating the Tribal Court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over the parties’ divorce and enjoining Tix from seeking to enforce the Tribal Court’s divorce order.”
READ the Decision (PDF): 2025.12.12 Tix 8th Circuit Order
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