This section contains the nature of the case and procedural background.

Margaret Solomon (P) is an Athabascan Indian from the Native Village of Fort Yukon. In 1985, P was asked whether she would adopt a child born that year. She went to Fairbanks to pick up the child who was then eight days old. The tribal court formalized the adoption 8 months later. In October of 1986, Alaska denied P benefits under the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program. State welfare officials would not recognize the tribal determination of adoption. Nancy Joseph encountered the same type of problem as P in that Alaska refused to recognize her adoption under the guise of the fact that the state did not give recognition of tribal council adoptions. The Native Village sued in the U.S. District Court under the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978. Both sides moved for summary judgment. P's claims were dismissed, and P appealed.

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