David Joseph Red Fox v. Marcia Annett Red Fox, Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon, and Irene B. Wells

David Joseph Red Fox, the appellant, filed an action in the District Court alleging violations of his rights under the Indian Civil Rights Act, 25 U.S.C. § 1302 (8). Upon motion by the appellees, defendants in the federal suit, an order granting summary judgment against the appellant was entered. The District Court entered judgment accordingly, and the appellant appeals. We affirm.

On May 8, 1974, the appellant, who is an American Indian, filed a petition for legal separation from his wife, Marcia Annett Red Fox (hereinafter Marcia, who is one of the appellees), in an Oregon state court. Subsequently, on May 23,1974, Marcia filed a petition for divorce in the tribal court for the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon. A July 23, 1974 hearing date was set for the tribal court hearing, but on June 12, 1974, Red Fox was served with a notice that the hearing date had been advanced, ex parte, to June 14, 1974. He failed to appear at this hearing, and the tribal court entered a default decree of divorce against him, awarding his wife a sum of money and custody of the couple’s minor children. On April 28, 1975, the Oregon state court dismissed the pending state…