What is the tribal court jurisdiction over delinquency and child abuse, neglect, and dependency?
In general, reservation-based Native Americans caught offending on a reservation are handled in tribal courts for misdemeanors but in federal courts for what U.S. law terms major crimes. However, prosecution of felonies, or major crimes, by juveniles or adults that take place on Indian reservations is often not pursued in the federal courts. An offense that takes place off-reservation is processed in a state juvenile court. Native American youths who live off-reservation are also handled in state juvenile courts. Tribal courts, historically and today, are invariably underfunded and understaffed. Probation personnel typically lack the resources to make a sizable impact on a juvenile’s problems. Juvenile offenses pursued in tribal courts tend to be of modest severity. The Navajo Nation’s court system is generally regarded as the most advanced and sophisticated, but it, too, is severely lacking in rehabilitative intervention capabilities. (See H. Ted Rubin. “Visiting Native American Juven
