On the bench: Meskwaki Tribal Court upholds cultural values in mostly civil cases

MESKWAKI SETTLEMENT - The judges on the Meskwaki Tribal Court often can't find a gavel, and they don't really care.

The gavel, which symbolizes the strict order maintained in federal, state and county courtrooms, seldom raps in the Meskwaki court.

“It's a less structured environment. We stress dealing with the merits of the case rather than procedure,” said Chief Judge Joseph Plumer, a court jurist since its inception more than four years ago.

The Tribal Court is also less adversarial than state and federal courts, say jurists on the Meskwaki bench.

“Our charge, as established in the Meskwaki code, is to find solutions that repair relationships and restore balance among our people,” said Associate Justice Jessica Roberts, an enrolled member of the Meskwaki Nation.

“We are to avoid punishment and retribution,” said Judge Pro Tempore Theresa Mahoney, also an enrolled tribe member.

Since the court opened in 2005, it has heard 341 cases, of which 307 were civil cases. Of those, 132 were child welfare cases, by far the single-largest category, followed by child custody (33), small claims (28), adoption (24) and marriage dissolutions (20).

With so many of the cases involving families, the court serves as a forum for family input, Mahoney said. “It's more the family solving problems with court guidance than the court prescribing solutions,” she said.

In child welfare cases, the Meskwaki court emphasizes rehabilitation of the parent, “almost at all costs,” Plumer said. “In a high percentage of cases, the children are reunited with their parents or other family members.”

Family ties are so important in the Meskwaki culture that its court uses different terminology to describe the removal of parental custody. The tribe terminates “the legal incidence of parentage,” rather than parenthood itself, Plumer said.

The Meskwaki place their highest value on family and tribal ties and regard them as unbreakable, said Tribal Court Clerk D. Suzanne Wanatee, an enrolled member of the Meskwaki Nation.

“We are an endangered species. There are only 1,365 (enrolled members of the Meskwaki Nation) on the planet. We have only each other, and we can't afford mistakes that would diminish us,” she said.

The court was established June 9, 2004, by resolution of the Tribal Council, which also enacted a 21-title Code of Law that incorporates Meskwaki beliefs, values, customs and traditions.

While the Meskwaki court is widely perceived as excelling in resolving civil cases, Tribal Council member Don Wanatee said, “It's not up to snuff yet on criminal cases.”

The code includes sections on criminal law, but the court has heard only eight criminal citation cases, all for minor offenses. Plumer said that number would likely increase when the tribe secures a jail agreement with Tama County, perhaps yet this year.

Mahoney said the court expects to handle about 15 criminal cases per month when the arrangement is completed.

The code's “Law and Order” title covers only crimes committed by Indians on the 7,000-acre Meskwaki Settlement west of Toledo, Plumer said. A 2007 state law allowing Iowa courts to honor and enforce Tribal Court civil rulings has been working well in practice, said Plumer, an enrolled member of the Leech Lake Band of Chippewa Indians.

Plumer said the court operates with “total independence” from the Tribal Council. “They avoid even the appearance of influence by just totally staying away,” he said.