Sex Discrimination Under Tribal Law

Ann Tweedy, University of South Dakota School of Law

Abstract

This article broadly identifies and then briefly examines tribal laws that prohibit sex discrimination and secondarily addresses laws that make sex-based distinctions. As explained below, the project is somewhat limited in scope due to the lack of widespread availability of many tribes' laws. Specifically, this article addresses tribal equal protection guarantees as well as all types of tribal statutory and constitutional laws that explicitly prohibit sex discrimination. It also discusses tribal case law addressing such discrimination, including case law addressing equal protection guarantees, cases interpreting tribal codes or policies, and case law creating tribal common law.