He has not seen his father in years, but his paternal grandparents in San Juan County want visitation rights - a request that has set off litigation in a trio of courts. The grandparents want the decision to come from a state judge in 7th District Court, where they filed their request for time with the boy. But the child's mother believes a Navajo Nation court, where judges understand American Indian customs and family lifestyles, should be the forum. She already has asked a tribal jurist to terminate her estranged husband's parental rights.

The next move could be made in a U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City, where the mother is requesting that a federal judge stop the state proceedings and let Navajo laws prevail.

“She's entitled to go into Navajo courts,” Susan Rose, the mother's Sandy lawyer, said. “We think it's in the best interest of the child for the Navajo court to decide.”

The boy is referred to by his initials in court documents, and his family members are not being named by The Salt Lake Tribune, to protect his privacy.

Rose said all family members would get a fair hearing under Navajo law.

The grandparents' attorney, though, says the case belongs in the 7th District Court because visitation is covered under Utah law.

"The state court is the only forum that can decide the question," lawyer Joyce Smith of Blanding said.

The boy's mother is unsure of the exact whereabouts of the boy's father and has not seen him for years, according to court documents.

The boy is close to his extended Navajo family, but he has no contact with paternal relatives, her court documents say. They say the youngster has not seen his father's parents for more than three years and has no memory of them.

The grandparents, who are not American Indian, live on state land within the reservation borders. They say the mother has stopped them from seeing the boy and they want to change that. In October 2004, they filed their petition in state court seeking visitation.

Less than two months later, the mother filed a request in Navajo Nation Court to terminate her husband's parental rights.

She alleges her husband was violent toward her at times and her son witnessed some of the abuse. The mother says she fears her in-laws could hand the boy over to his father, who might leave the area with him.

But Smith said her clients have no intention of letting their grandson see his father and would abide by any court order concerning visitation.

Two authorities on American Indian law agree that a visitation request by the grandparents would get serious consideration in a Navajo Nation court.

Tribal courts generally "view grandparents as more than parents of children," Utah Court of Appeals Judge William Thorne said. "They play an important role in children's lives."

Thorne, who has served as a tribal court judge in Utah, has no legal opinion on the case.

Bill Battles, an attorney in Window Rock, Ariz., who has practiced in Navajo courts for more than 30 years, said the tribe has a history of finding a way for non-Indian relatives to have a relationship with an American Indian child.

He added that he thinks the case belongs in a Navajo court.

"By congressional enactment, the Navajo Nation has jurisdiction over any child within its boundaries," he said. "Native American law trumps state law."

pmanson@sltrib.com