DMR.2.4.020 When a Parent May Seek a Custody or Placement

A parent may seek custody or placement if:

(a) The Reservation is the domicile of the child at the time of commencement of the proceeding, or had been the child's domicile within six months before commencement of the proceeding and the child is absent from the Reservation because of removal or retention by a person claiming custody or for any other reason, and a parent or person acting as parent continues to live on the Reservation; or

(b) It is in the best interest of the child that this Court assume jurisdiction because the child and parents, or the child and at least one contestant, have a significant connection with the Reservation, and there is available on or near the Reservation substantial evidence concerning the child's present or future care, protection, training and personal relationships; or

(c) The child is physically present on the Reservation and has been abandoned or it is necessary in an emergency to protect the child because of mistreatment, abuse, or neglect, or the threat thereof, or dependence, or

(d) No other Court outside this Reservation has jurisdiction under prerequisites substantially in accordance with paragraph (1), (2), or (3), or another jurisdiction has declined to exercise its jurisdiction on the ground that this Court is the more appropriate forum to determine custody of the child, and it is in the child's best interest that this Court assume jurisdiction.