Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians v. Holyfield

In Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians v. Holyfield, 490 U.S. 30, 53, 104 L. Ed. 2d 29, 109 S. Ct. 1597 (1989) two unwed Indian parents who resided on a reservation traveled off the reservation for the birth of their twins and made plans for their children to be adopted by a non-Indian family. 490 U.S. at 37-38. After the births, the parents consented to the adoption, but the tribe moved to vacate the adoption, claiming that the state court did not have jurisdiction under ICWA. See id. at 38. An Indian mother who lived on a reservation gave birth to twins away from reservation grounds. The mother and the children's father, who also lived on the reservation, voluntarily surrendered the children for adoption by non-Indian caretakers. The children's tribe moved to vacate the adoption and, pursuant to the ICWA, have the custody issue heard in a tribal court. The Supreme Court vacated the adoption, holding that federal domicile law applies in state court proceedings involving ICWA and that the parents' tribe had exclusive jurisdiction over the proceeding even though the children were not born on the reservation and did not reside with their Indian birth parents or within the Indian culture. See id. at 48-49. The Supreme Court ruled that even though the children were born off of reservation grounds, they were still domiciled on the reservation, meaning that their adoption case should have been heard by a tribal court. In his decision Justice Brennan wrote: "Congress was concerned not solely about the interests of Indian children and families, but also about the impact on the tribes themselves of the large numbers of Indian children adopted by non-Indians." (Holyfield at 49.)