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By Jacqueline Agtuca
Public Policy Director for Clan Star, Inc.

On March 19, Sacred Circle and 49 other organizations filed an amicus curiae brief in the Plains Commerce Bank v. Long Family Land & Cattle Co.  The case is currently under review by the United States Supreme Court. 

The Bank lost in the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Court and at all lower court levels of review.  The Bank appealed the case to the Supreme Court arguing for removal of tribal court civil authority over non-Indians that enter into consensual relationships with Indians on reservations.  Recognition of tribal court civil authority over non-Indians in such cases is long standing. 

1) The Sacred Circle brief outlines the impact of the case on Native women victimized by non-Indian perpetrators of domestic and sexual violence.

2) The National Congress of American Indians brief outlines the history of Indian tribes and federal Indian law in the context of this case. 

3) The Native American Rights Fund served as co-counsel for the Long family and its brief explains why the Bank is wrong in its argument.  It provides a compelling explanation of why the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Court did in fact have jurisdiction over the case.