Title: Tribal Justice Systems
Headings: Tribal Justice Systems
Tribal Justice Systems
A Brief History of Tribal Courts
The Indian Country Law Enforcement Initiative
Indian Tribal Courts Program
National Tribal Justice Resource Center

Content: The development of tribal courts as they are now known can be traced to a case arising in the 1880�s on land that is now the Rosebud Sioux reservation in South Dakota, when a Lakota tribal member, Crow Dog, killed a fellow tribal member, Spotted Tail. At the time, there was no formal court system utilized by the Lakota people. Utilizing traditional methods of dispute resolution, the tribe required Crow Dog to provide restitution to Spotted Tail�s family in the form of goods and provisions. Although the victim�s family was satisfied with the resolution, in the eyes of the federal government, the tribal approach did not inflict what it thought was appropriate punishment. As a consequence, the Department of the Interior, the federal agency responsible for directing Indian affairs, set up �Court of Indian Offenses� to handle less serious criminal offenses and to resolve disputes between tribal members through the application of federal law and regulations-not tribal law or custom. It was not until 1934, with the passage of the Indian Reorganization Act, that tribes were encouraged by the federal government to enact their own laws and to establish their own justice systems. Many tribes, however, did not adopt their own codes at that time, but rather operated under provisions of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). Due to lack of financial resources, many smaller tribes could not afford to operate their own tribal courts and retained the CFR courts operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. There are approximately 23 CFR courts still in existence. Approximately 275 Indian nations and Alaska Native villages have established formal tribal court systems.