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What protections can I get in a tribal protection order?
Protection orders cannot guarantee your safety, but they can protect you in several different ways. Although the exact protections will vary from one tribal court to another, a tribal protection order may include terms that:
- prohibit the respondent (abuser) from having any contact or communication, direct or indirect, including by phone, mail, email, text message, or through third parties with you, your children, or your current intimate partner;
- order the respondent to stay a certain amount of feet away from you, your home, your school, your business, your workplace, your children, your children’s school or daycare, or your current intimate partner;
- force the respondent to leave the home that you both share and to stay away from it, regardless of whose name is on the lease, mortgage, or other real estate agreement;
- grant you custody of, or visitation with, your children;
- order the respondent to pay you child support;
- order any additional terms are that are necessary to ensure your safety or the safety of your children; and
- kick the respondent off the reservation if it’s necessary to prevent future acts of domestic abuse.1
1 See, for example, “Domestic Abuse Order After Hearing” form from the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation Tribal Court, available on the Tribal Protection Order Resources website
