Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians v. Holyfield et al.

Decided April 3, 1989. William Joseph Brennan Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 87-980 · 490 U.S. 30 (1989) · Cited 1,403 times

Holding

The twins were "domiciled" on the Tribe's reservation within the meaning of the ICWA's exclusive tribal jurisdiction provision, and the Chancery Court was, accordingly, without jurisdiction to enter the adoption decree.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 6–3.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Dickerson v. New Banner Institute, Inc. · 460 U.S. 103 (1983)
• United States v. Pelzer · 312 U.S. 399 (1941)
• Jerome v. United States · 318 U.S. 101 (1943)
• Reconstruction Finance Corporation v. Beaver County · 328 U.S. 204 (1946)
• National Labor Relations Board v. Hearst Publications, Inc. · 322 U.S. 111 (1944)
• District of Columbia v. Murphy · 314 U.S. 441 (1941)
• Hanson v. Denckla · 357 U.S. 235 (1958)
• Volt Info. Sciences, Inc. v. Bd. of Trustees of Leland Stanford Jr. U. · 489 U.S. 468 (1989)
• Russello v. United States · 464 U.S. 16 (1983)
• Richards v. United States · 369 U.S. 1 (1962)
• Spencer v. Texas · 385 U.S. 554 (1967)
• Williams v. Lee · 358 U.S. 217 (1959)
• McClanahan v. Arizona State Tax Commission · 411 U.S. 164 (1973)
• Mastro Plastics Corp. v. National Labor Relations Board · 350 U.S. 270 (1956)
• Helvering v. Stuart · 317 U.S. 154 (1942)
• TEXAS v. FLORIDA Et Al. · 306 U.S. 398 (1939)
• De Sylva v. Ballentine · 351 U.S. 570 (1956)
• Japan Line, Ltd. v. County of Los Angeles · 441 U.S. 434 (1979)
• Dahnke-Walker Milling Co. v. Bondurant · 257 U.S. 282 (1921)
• Fisher v. District Court of the Sixteenth Judicial District of Montana · 424 U.S. 382 (1976)
• United States v. Heirs of Boisdoré · 49 U.S. 113 (1849)
• National Labor Relations Board v. Natural Gas Utility District · 402 U.S. 600 (1971)
• United States v. John · 437 U.S. 634 (1978)
• Yarborough v. Yarborough · 290 U.S. 202 (1933)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl · 570 U.S. 637 (2013)
• Gonzales v. Oregon · 546 U.S. 243 (2006)
• Haaland v. Brackeen · 599 U.S. 255 (2023)
• Reves v. Ernst & Young · 494 U.S. 56 (1990)
• Inyo County, California v. Paiute-Shoshone Indians of the Bishop Community of the Bishop Colony · 538 U.S. 701 (2003)
• Holder v. Martinez Gutierrez · 566 U.S. 583 (2012)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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William Joseph Brennan Jr.’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1989). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).