In re the Parental Placement of M.R.D.B.

The appellant, White Mountain Apache Tribe, filed a motion to dismiss the pending adoption proceedings in the District Court, Eighteenth Judicial District, Gallatin County, for lack of jurisdiction under 25 U.S.C. § 1911(a) of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). The appellant contended in District Court that the minor child Michelle Rae Dawn Baier (Michelle) is a ward of the White Mountain Apache Tribal Council and pursuant to 25 U.S.C. § 1911(a), the Tribal Court had exclusive jurisdiction over proceedings involving the child. The District Court denied the Tribe’s motion to dismiss holding…