Tribes Shouldn’t Protect Deadbeats

A deadbeat dad is a deadbeat dad whether he’s driving a truck cross country or dealing cards at a Washington Indian casino. He’s a man who has fallen behind in child-support payments and refuses to try to catch up.

Yet, there’s a distinct difference between the run-of-the-mill deadbeat and the casino employee.

The state of Washington can garnish the trucker’s wages. But it can’t touch the dealer - even if he isn’t a member of the tribe. Tribal sovereignty laws protect him.

Commendably, some Washington tribes, like the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, have addressed this problem by working with the state to develop ways women can petition tribal courts for child support. Others, however, have taken a drop-dead attitude toward the state: “You don’t have the authority to garnish the wages, and we don’t have to honor the request under federal and state law.”

They’re right, of course. Federal and state supreme courts have upheld the tribes’ status as sovereign nations in matters relating to child support. So, tribes are immune from actions by the state to garnish wages.

The tribes shouldn’t provide sanctuary for deadbeats, though.

America’s Indian tribes, of all peoples, should know what it’s like to be jerked around by government. Native Americans know what it’s like to be forced off their land, driven onto often-undesirable reservation sites, and to endure an endless streams of lies and broken treaties.

Many of the women seeking delinquent child support have been victimized by ill treatment and broken promises, too. Generally, they’ve been forced onto welfare and into a way of life they don’t want or deserve.

The tribes should help them.

The increase in complaints from parents accusing tribes of “harboring deadbeats” has paralleled the growing popularity of Indian casinos. In Washington, 10 tribes operate casinos with more than 5,000 licensed and certified employees - not including restaurant workers, janitors, clerical or unlicensed bingo workers.

Washington tribes can show they take this social problem seriously by demanding that people they employ meet obligations to children and former wives. Tribal governments also should develop a uniform policy on child-support enforcement.

The reservation should be a place of identity, pride and mutual support - not a refuge for deadbeats running away from their responsibilities.

, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = D.F. Oliveria/For the editorial board