John v. Baker

OPINION

BRYNER, Chief Justice.

I. INTRODUCTION

In 2002, after multiple appeals to this court, the superior court referred a child custody dispute between Anita John and John Baker to the Native Village of North-way tribal court. After the referral, the Child Support Enforcement Division asked the superior court whether its standing child support order — which had been issued early in the course of the proceedings and well before any of the appeals — remained valid and enforceable. The division’s simple inquiry mushroomed into a wholesale battle over the reach of tribal court jurisdiction. The…