Akins v. Penobscot Indian

LYNCH, Circuit Judge.

This case presents the first instance this court has been asked to address an important question in the allocation of sovereign powers between the Penobscot Nation and the State of Maine: the definition of “internal tribal matters.” If the dispute here involves an “internal tribal matter” then the tribal courts have exclusive jurisdiction; if not, then claims have been stated within federal court jurisdiction and it was error to dismiss the action. While defining what constitutes an internal matter controlled by Indian tribes is hardly novel in Native American law, it is…