Nevada tribal marriages are still valid by Meg Mincolla, Outpost Contributor   In Nevada, American Indian marriages performed in accordance with tribal customs are given the same validity as state-licensed marriages. These marriages exhibit both Nevada's changing cultural rituals and American Indian sovereignty, vanishing in some states. Nevada Revised Statute 122.060 gives the necessary format for validating and recording a tribal marriage. A certificate of declaration containing the man and woman's ame, age, Social Security number, and tribal affiliation must be signed by a tribal official and recorded with the county clerk within 30 days. A yearly average of 10 couples are married in Reno with these tribal marriage certificates. In Washoe County, tribal judges have authority to sign an American Indian couple's certificate of declaration, which is equivalent to a county-issued marriage license. "I do an average of 10 marriages per year," Chief Tribal Judge Clarence B. McDade said. Many more couples prefer to get a county-issued license, then have a traditional tribal ceremony. McDade prefers the couples he marries to have a Washoe County marriage license, although it is not necessary. "Whatever they feel comfortable with," McDade said. "Many choose to go the contemporary way, as far as getting a county certifcate," Joyce Melendez, Reno-Sparks Indian Colony Records Manager, said. While there is no ritual tribal ceremony, they are often conducted in the native language and involve prayers to the four corners and a ceremonial lance. The lance includes inscriptions of the ceremony and is hung in the couple's home. "They often look at it as proof; documentation of the marriage," McDade said. The ability of Navada's American Indians to be married through their tribe is an example of tribal sovereignty not provided in California, governed by Public Law 280. This law gives much jurisdiction of tribal affairs to the state. McDada said, "This is not like California, where they have Public Law 280 causing some problems. Last year, the Nevada Committee on Judiciary attempted to change tribal wedding recognition. Nevada Assembly Bill 554, which would have revised the state's recognition of tribal marriages, died in an assembly committee on July 7, 1997. Although this bill's failure exhibits the sovereignty of Nevada's American Indians, many legal precedents have been set federally denying this sovereignty. In the 1886 Supreme Court case U.S. vs. Kagama, Justice Miller said, "These Indian tribes are wards of the nation. They are communities dependent upon the United States." Nevada's marriage licensing statutes are an example of how American Indian communities are not dependent upon the state. Today's tribal weddings may also be an example of traditional ways soon to be lost. "Today, the old traditional way is gone," McDade said.   copyright May 1998 Nevada Outpost http://www.jour.unr.edu/outpost