is justified as a benefit to the class of which he is a member by furthering the congressional policy of Indian self-government.

Certiorari granted;

PER CURIAM.

Mont.

536 P. 2d 190, reversed.

Disagreeing with an advisory opinion of the Appellate Court of the Northern Cheyenre Tribe, the Montana Supreme Court held that the state court has jurisdiction over an adoption proceeding in which all parties are members of the Tribe and residents of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation. We reverse. Petitioner is the mother of Ivan Firecrow. On July 1, 1969, after petitioner and Ivan's father were divorced, the Tribal Court of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe found that petitioner had neglected Ivan, awarded temporary custody to Josephine Runsabove, and made Ivan a ward of the court.1 In 1973 the Tribal Court rejected petitioner's request to regain custody of her son." On August 30, 1974, however, the Tribal Court entered an order granting petitioner temporary custody of Ivan "for a period of six weeks during the summer months." 3

Four days before the entry of that order, Josephine Runsabove and her husband initiated an adoption proceeding in the District Court for the Sixteenth Judicial District of Montana. Petitioner moved to dismiss for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction, asserting that the

1 See State ex rel. Firecrow v. District Court, Mont. 536 P. 2d 190, 192 (1975).

2 In re Firecrow (Northern Cheyenne Tribal Ct., filed Aug. 1, 1973). Defendant's Exhibit C.

3 In re Firecrow (Northern Cheyenne Tribal Ct., filed Aug. 30, 1974). Defendant's Exhibit A.

4 They alleged that petitioner had voluntarily abandoned the child to Josephine Runsabove on June 2, 1969, and had not supported the child for over a year. The natural father consented to the adoption and waived further notice.

After a

Tribal Court possessed exclusive jurisdiction. hearing, the District Court certified to the Appellate Court of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe the question whether an ordinance of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe 5 conferred jurisdiction upon the District Court. The Appellate Court of the Tribe expressed the opinion that it did not, and the State District Court dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.

5 Chapter 3, § 2, of the Revised Law and Order Ordinances of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Reservation, approved by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, June 9, 1966. The ordinance provides:

"The Tribal Court of the Northern Cheyenne Reservation shall have jurisdiction to hear, pass upon, and approve applications for adoptions among members of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe.

"Upon proper showing and decision by the court, such adoptions shall be binding upon all concerned and hereafter only adoptions so approved by the Tribal Court shall be recognized.

"On all adoptions involving non-members of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe or non-Indians or both who wish to adopt a member of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, the Tribal Court of the Northern Cheyenne Reservation shall have concurrent jurisdiction to hear, pass upon, and approve applications for adoption and upon written. consent of the court, adoption proceedings affecting members of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Reservation may be taken up and consummated in the State Courts."

The opinion of the Appellate Court of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe reads, in relevant part:

"It is the opinion of this Court, and this Court so rules, that the Tribal Court has exclusive jurisdiction of all adoptions of members of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe of Indians where it appears that the minor who is being adopted and all other parties to the adoption proceedings, which is to say, the parent and/or parents of the minor and the person and/or persons adopting said minor are each and all members of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe and each and all reside within the exterior boundaries of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation.

"This Court has not been called upon to decide any issue involving non-members of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe or non-Indians or both, who wish to adopt a member of the Northern Cheyenne

The Runsaboves then filed an original application in the Montana Supreme Court for a writ of supervisory control or other appropriate writ to set aside the order of dismissal. The Montana Supreme Court granted the requested relief, holding that the District Court possessed jurisdiction. The court reasoned that prior to the organization of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe in 1935, the Montana courts possessed jurisdiction over adoptions involving tribal members residing on the reservation and that this jurisdiction could not be unilaterally divested by tribal ordinance; that Congress recognized that jurisdiction of state courts over Indian adoptions in 25 U. S. C. § 372a; and that depriving the Montana courts of jurisdiction would deny equal protection to Indian plaintiffs, at least under the Montana Constitution. State ex rel. Firecrow v. District Court, Mont. 536 P. 2d 190 (1975).'

Tribe. Therefore, this Court does not make any opinion or interpretation as to the provisions of the last (3rd) paragraph of said Section 1 of Chapter III of the Tribal Code." In re Firecrow, at 5 (filed Apr. 12, 1975).

The writ of supervisory control issued by the Montana Supreme Court is a final judgment within our jurisdiction under 28 U. S. C. § 1257 (3). It is available only in original proceedings in the Montana Supreme Court, Mont. Const., Art. VII, §§ 2 (1), (2); Mont. Rule App. Civ. Proc. 17 (a), and although it may issue in a broad range of circumstances, it is not equivalent to an appeal. See ibid.; State ex rel. Amsterdam Lumber, Inc. v. District Court, 163 Mont. 182, 186-187, 516 P. 2d 378, 380-381 (1973); Walker v. Tschache, 162 Mont. 213, 215-217, 510 P. 2d 9, 10-11 (1973). A judgment that terminates original proceedings in a state appellate court, in which the only issue decided concerns the jurisdiction of a lower state court, is final, even if further proceedings are to be had in the lower court. Madruga v. Superior Court, 346 U. S. 556, 557 n. 1 (1954); Rescue Army v. Municipal Court, 331 U. S. 549, 565568 (1947); Bandini Co. v. Superior Court, 284 U. S. 8, 14-15 (1931); see Costarelli v. Massachusetts, 421 U. S. 193, 197-199 (1975) (per curiam).

In litigation between Indians and non-Indians arising out of conduct on an Indian reservation, resolution of conflicts between the jurisdiction of state and tribal courts has depended, absent a governing Act of Congress, on "whether the state action infringed on the right of reservation Indians to make their own laws and be ruled by them." Williams v. Lee, 358 U. S. 217, 220 (1959); accord, Kennerly v. District Court of Montana, 400 U. S. 423, 426-427 (1971) (per curiam). Since this litigation involves only Indians, at least the same standard must be met before the state courts may exercise jurisdiction. Mescalero Apache Tribe v. Jones, 411 U. S. 145, 148 (1973); McClanahan v. Arizona State Tax Comm'n, 411 U. S. 164, 168-173, 179-180 (1973).

The right of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe to govern itself independently of state law has been consistently protected by federal statute. As early as 1877, Congress ratified an agreement between the Tribe and the United States providing that "Congress shall, by appropriate legislation, secure to [the Indians] an orderly government; they shall be subject to the laws of the United States, and each individual shall be protected in his rights of property, person, and life." 19 Stat. 256. This provision remained unaffected by the Act enabling Montana to enter the Union, and by the other statutes specifically concerned with the Northern Cheyenne Tribe."

8 Act of Feb. 22, 1889, 25 Stat. 676. Section 4 (2) of the Act provides that "Indian lands shall remain under the absolute jurisdiction and control of the Congress of the United States . . . ." For an interpretation of this provision, and similar language in other statehood enabling Acts, see McClanahan v. Arizona State Tax Comm'n, 411 U. S. 164, 175-176, and n. 15 (1973); Organized Village of Kake v. Egan, 369 U. S. 60, 69-71 (1962).

The Northern Cheyenne Tribe first came under federal trusteeship by the Treaty of May 10, 1868, 15 Stat. 655, which was subsequently modified by the agreement quoted in text. The Northern

10

In 1935, the Tribe adopted a constitution and bylaws pursuant to § 16 of the Indian Reorganization Act, 48 Stat. 987, 25 U. S. C. § 476, a statute specifically intended to encourage Indian tribes to revitalize their self-government. Mescalero Apache Tribe, supra, at 151. Acting pursuant to the constitution and bylaws, the Tribal Council of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe established the Tribal Court and granted it jurisdiction over adoptions "among members of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe." 11

State-court jurisdiction plainly would interfere with the powers of self-government conferred upon the Northern Cheyenne Tribe and exercised through the Tribal Court. It would subject a dispute arising on the reservation among reservation Indians to a forum other than

Cheyenne Indian Reservation was created by Executive Orders on November 26, 1884, and March 19, 1900, 1 C. Kappler, Indian Affairs 860-861 (1904), and it was confirmed as property of the Tribe held in trust by the United States by the Act of June 3, 1926, c. 459, 44 Stat. pt. 2, 690. None of the cited sources grants jurisdiction to Montana.

10 Constitution and bylaws of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, approved by the Secretary of the Interior, Nov. 23, 1935. These have since been superseded by the Amended Constitution and By-Laws of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, approved by the Assistant Secretary of the Interior, July 8, 1960.

11 C. 3, § 2, of the Revised Law and Order Ordinances of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Reservation. Quoted at n. 5, supra.

The third paragraph of § 2 does not confer jurisdiction over this case upon the Montana courts. By its express terms, it confers concurrent jurisdiction only over "adoptions involving non-members of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe or non-Indians or both who wish to adopt a member of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe," see n. 5, supra, and only upon written consent of the Tribal Court.